A GIRL of Pakistani parents in the United States has topped the list in a state-level academic competition in Texas amongst her age group pupils. She was declared a ‘Young Genius’ by a Nobel laureate in Medicine (2007), Dr Mario Capecchi.

She was to have participated in the 2021 Congress of Future Medical Leaders in Washington DC. Alas! The Covid pandemic threw a spanner in the works and the grand occasion had to be postponed. Sana Abbas, aged 13, is the daughter of Kaisar Abbas, from Sindh, and mother Sarah Khan hailing from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

In his letter to Sana, Dr Capecchi said she was chosen “in recognition of your outstanding academic record, your leadership potential, your desire to contribute to the profession of medicine…” He said he felt proud to hail her “as one of our most promising future leaders in medical science”.

Sana, a student at Austin Peace Academy in Texas, is my niece. On my recent visit to the US where I had gone to attend the ceremony which could not be held because of Covid, I met her mother Sara, who gave me some clues to her daughter’s genius.

When she was pregnant, she said, she used to play audios of geography, history, music, etc. in such a manner that the baby inside the womb could hear it. This made Sana a child prodigy. For example, at age one Sana could recite the names of US presidents from George Washington onwards. In his letter to Sana, which invited her to the event in Washington,

Dr Capecchi gave the names of other Nobel laureates in medicine who were expected to grace the event.

Z.H. Borhani
Karachi

TRUE SAVIOURS: Doctors are called messiahs for services they render to society, but nurses, who represent the backbone of the healthcare delivery system, are no less of a saviour because they are the ones who attend to patients and take the bitter with the sweet. Without them, doctors cannot be the messiahs they are supposed to be. The services of nurses must be acknowledged.

Syed Sardar Ahmad
Former Sindh Health Minister
Karachi

NO SANITATION SYSTEM: The sanitation management of Nishtar Town in Lahore has been in a very bad shape for the last couple of months. The drains are uncovered, giving out foul smell, and there is no proper arrangement to have them cleaned. Heaps of garbage can be seen everywhere and the streets frequently have puddles of stagnant water that serve as breeding grounds for mosquitoes, causing health hazards. Repeated requests have been made to the municipal authorities, but they have fallen on deaf ears.

Muhammad Arsalan Javed
Lahore

ROAD TO NOWHERE: Recently I travelled on Badah-Bothro road in Dadu district, and it took me 40 minutes to complete a mere 7km journey. It was rather surprising as the road was inaugurated just a few years ago. All one can see on the ground are some name plaques related to the inaugural ceremony. Bothro has a population of over 10,000 people who are deprived of even basic facilities. The authorities concerned are requested to complete the said road without delay.

Sarwech Kandhro
Badah, Larkana

OVERLAPPING DATES: The Central Superior Services (CSS) screening test has been scheduled to be held in February, while the Sindh Public Service Commission (SPSC) has also scheduled its various tests for different posts in the same month. It will be next to impossible for the aspirants to take so many tests, especially for the ones who are residing outside the province for one reason or the other. The relevant authorities should reschedule the tests.

Mohammad Usama
Lahore

Published in Dawn, December 19th, 2021