Pakistani-American Woman Featured in Netflix Documentary "Pandemic"

Dr. Syra Madad, Pakistani-American head of New York City’s Health and Hospitals System-wide Special Pathogens Program, is featured in a 6-part Netflix documentary series "Pandemic: How to Prevent an Outbreak". She had warned of a deadly pandemic in December, 2019, just days before China reported to the World Health Organization that it was treating dozens of patients for a novel virus of unknown origin.  We now know it as coronavirus or Covid-19. The series debuted in January 2020, but recent events have pushed it into Netflix’s “Top 10 in the U.S. Today.”

Dr. Madad says the novel coronavirus is "about 10 times more virulent than seasonal flu". “Whether it is somebody you come into contact with or touching door handles or something that’s a high touch surface,” she says. “We want to make sure we are applying everyday measures.”

Both COVID-19 coronavirus and the flu can be transmitted through water droplets in coughs or sneezes. However, tiny particles of COVID-19 may linger longer in the air even after the infected person leaves the room. It can also linger on different types of surfaces: up to one day on cardboard, and up to three days on wood and stainless steel, according to experts who have studied COVID-19.
Dr. Syra Madad

The cast of “Pandemic” includes government officials such as Dr. Dennis Carroll, director of the Emerging Threats Unit of USAID, to physicians in locations as far-flung as Oklahoma and India. It also features San Francisco researchers looking for a universal flu vaccine.

The series opens with a US government official standing in a field north of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, last fall beside a mass grave dating back to the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic that killed 50-100 million people. It then moves to a scene showing Dr. Syra Madad leading a simulation exercise of New York City's response to a future hypothetical outbreak.

Dr. Syra Madad, 34, is a devout Muslim. The Netflix series shows her praying at her home in Long Island, New York. She says, "I live and breathe being a Muslim. It shapes my daily life. I don't drink I don't eat meat that's not halal.....I do no harm and I help others".

Dr. Madad takes breaks to say her prayers at the Islamic Center of New York University. Before entering the prayer room, Madad stops to perform wudu, and washes her hands, mouth and face as well as her feet, according to a Washington Post report.

Dr. Syra Madad Speaking at NIH, Islamabad, Pakistan

The last time she visited Pakistan was in August 2018. She took time out to speak at the National Institute of Health, Islamabad, on Emergency Preparedness and Response to Public Health Emergencies, like Ebola and CCHF outbreaks.

On December 27th 2019, Dr. Syra Madad co-wrote a Washington Post op ed with Ronald A. Klain, former White House Ebola response coordinator in Obama Administration, warning lawmakers that a vital federal program to fight deadly pandemics was set to expire in May of 2020 and urged Congress to renew funding for the system that helps keep Americans safe from a sudden epidemic. “Failure to act would be penny-wise but pound-foolish,” it read. “The day will come when a dangerous pathogen will arrive in the United States once again.”  A few days later, the government in Wuhan, China, reported to the World Health Organization that it was treating dozens of patients for a novel virus of unknown origin. We now know it as coronavirus or Covid-19. It has caused a deadly pandemic that is raging around the world with devastating consequences.

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Comments

Riaz Haq said…
Dr. Gul Zaidi featured in CBS 60 Minutes tonight is a graduate of Shifa Medical College #Islamabad #Pakistan. She is a critical care specialist in pulmonary diseases. She says "continue the lockdown" to manage the load on health care system. #coronavirus https://www.cbsnews.com/news/new-york-city-coronavirus-epicenter-united-states-peak-60-minutes-2020-03-29/

Scott Pelley: To those who question whether businesses should be closed, whether entire cities or states should be locked down, you say what?

Dr. Gul Zaidi: You have to keep it locked down. The influx already is so much that if this continues, there's no resources in the world that'll be enough to deal with this and contain this. And we have to keep it locked down. Anything else would be irresponsible.

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Scott Pelley: Tell me about the battle you're fighting.

Dr. Gul Zaidi: It's hard. We're ICU doctors, we're used to pressure. We're used to seeing a lot of things that normal people don't see. But this is really beyond anything I've seen in my career.

Dr. Gul Zaidi has been a critical care specialist nine years at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in Queens.

Dr. Gul Zaidi: There's no time to sit, let alone eat or do simple things like take bathroom breaks. We just keep going. And it's essentially one room to the next.

Scott Pelley: When was the last time you slept?

Dr. Gul Zaidi: I don't know. I don't remember when was the last time. Probably before this exploded like this.

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Dr. Gul Zaidi: It's just the sheer magnitude of patients that are coming in, the influx not just into the hospital, but into our ICUs is beyond anything that we've seen before. We're doing our best, but it feels like wartime.

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Dr. Gul Zaidi: We're all scared. I'm scared. But I have to lock those fears away in a box, because once I set foot into the hospital, it's all about the patient. So, we try to be cautious. We try to use the protective equipment. But it's not perfect. We all know that. But this is what I do. It's my job. So, I do what I have to do to help these people.
Riaz Haq said…
American Immigration and Ethnicity by Gerber and Kraut.

Historically, Indians have rejected foreign ways and foreign people as profoundly corrupting, even polluting, as they endured centuries of foreign domination. In the 19th century, Indians who went abroad were obliged to undergo elaborate purification rituals when they returned. Today the problem is identified not as loss of ritual purity but as loss of culture. Immigrants, by leaving the motherland, and immersing themselves in an alien cultural contexts, have lost their Indian-ness. Overseas Indians are thought to have lost their language, their morals, their religion, their sense of community, and their connectedness to India. In pursuit of foreign wealth, they have adopted the soul-less, anomic, and licentious ways of the alien.....they are not considered "real Indians".

https://books.google.com/books?id=-20YDAAAQBAJ&q=purification#v=onepage&q=purification&f=false

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Today, new arrivals, legal and undocumented alike, find ample opportunities for employment in the United States. Migrant workers cross the Mexican border plant and harvest. Their low-cost labor keeps the prices of fruits and vegetables inexpensive for Americans. They often take jobs in the service sector that are either so low-paying or undesirable that native-born workers refuse them. However, at the other end of the scale, well-educated newcomers from China, India and Pakistan are transforming America's high-tech industries, especially in the areas of computer technology. The computer has rejuvenated home work. Men and women can support their families, working in a variety of industries that require online labor.



The expansion of hospital based medical care, and the institutions of broad-based social programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid in 1965, resulted in the need for thousands of skilled professionals. The 1965 Immigration Act, which abolished national quotas in favor of those based on professional status, aimed to encourage the immigration of professionals. Thousands of unemployed professionals from India and Pakistan flocked to the United States............Medical graduates especially were encouraged , with offers of free apartments and secure jobs at hospitals.



https://books.google.com/books?id=-20YDAAAQBAJ&q=purification#v=onepage&q=Pakistan&f=true
Riaz Haq said…
Eight #UK Doctors Died From #Coronavirus . All Were Immigrants from former #British colonies: #Egypt , #India, #Nigeria, #Pakistan, #SriLanka and #Sudan


https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/08/world/europe/coronavirus-doctors-immigrants.html

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The coronavirus has taken a devastating toll on migrant doctors across Britain, leaving at least six others dead: Dr. Habib Zaidi, 76, a longtime general practitioner from Pakistan; Dr. Alfa Sa’adu, 68, a geriatric doctor from Nigeria; Dr. Jitendra Rathod, 62, a heart surgeon from India; Dr. Anton Sebastianpillai, in his 70s, a geriatric doctor from Sri Lanka; Dr. Mohamed Sami Shousha, 79, a breast tissue specialist from Egypt; and Dr. Syed Haider, in his 80s, a general practitioner from Pakistan.

Barry Hudson, a longtime patient of Dr. Zaidi in southeastern England, recalled their exam table conversations about England’s cricket team.

“He was a big figure in the community,” Mr. Hudson said. “He had a proper doctor’s manner. He didn’t rush anybody.”

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It is a story tinged with racism, as white, British doctors have largely dominated the prestigious disciplines while foreign doctors have typically found work in places and practices that are apparently putting them on the dangerous front lines of the coronavirus pandemic.

“When people were standing on the street clapping for N.H.S. workers, I thought, ‘A year and a half ago, they were talking about Brexit and how these immigrants have come into our country and want to take our jobs,’” said Dr. Hisham el-Khidir, whose cousin Dr. Adil el-Tayar, a transplant surgeon, died on March 25 from the coronavirus in western London.

“Now today, it’s the same immigrants that are trying to work with the locals,” said Dr. el-Khidir, a surgeon in Norwich, “and they are dying on the front lines.”

By Tuesday, 7,097 people had died in British hospitals from the coronavirus, the government said on Wednesday, a leap of 938 from the day before, the largest daily rise in the death toll.

And the victims have included not just the eight doctors but a number of nurses who worked alongside them, at least one from overseas. Health workers are stretched thin as hospitals across the country are filled with patients, including Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who this week was moved into intensive care with the coronavirus.

Britain is not the only country reckoning with its debt to foreign doctors amid the terror and chaos of the pandemic. In the United States, where immigrants make up more than a quarter of all doctors but often face long waits for green cards, New York and New Jersey have already cleared the way for graduates of overseas medical schools to suit up in the coronavirus response.

But Britain, where nearly a third of doctors in National Health Service hospitals are immigrants, has especially strong links to the medical school systems of its former colonies, making it a natural landing place.

That was true for Dr. el-Tayar, 64, the oldest son of a government clerk and a housewife from Atbara, Sudan, a railway city on the Nile.

He had 11 siblings, and one left a special impression: Osman, a brother, who became ill as a child and died without suitable medical treatment. Though Dr. el-Tayar rarely spoke of his brother’s death, he gave the same name to his oldest son.

“In my mind, I think that’s what led him to medicine,” Dr. el-Khidir said. “He didn’t want anyone else in his family to feel that.”

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By recruiting foreign doctors, Britain saves the roughly $270,000 in taxpayer money that it costs to train doctors locally, a boon to a system that does not spend enough on medical education to staff its own hospitals. That effectively leaves Britain depending on the largess of countries with weaker health care systems to train its own work force.
Riaz Haq said…
Pakistani American pulmonologist Dr. Saud Anwar celebrated as hero in Connecticut for his dangerous frontline work to help coronavirus patients


https://www.nbcconnecticut.com/top-video-ott/residents-surprise-doctor-during-unsung-heroes-parade-in-south-windsor/2254078/


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State Sen. Saud Anwar, whose day job as a medical doctor specializing in lung disease and critical care has kept him extremely busy over the past several weeks, shared what may be a big breakthrough Saturday in the effort to prepare for a surge in acute cases of COVID-19.

In a video posted to his Facebook page from Manchester Memorial Hospital, Anwar details a new, open-source 3D-printed valve – the Ventilator Quad Splitter – that could allow a single ventilator to treat up to seven patients per unit.

“We’ve been working collaboratively together as a group of people from different backgrounds to get this done,” Anwar said.

Ventilators – which keep people alive when their lungs have failed – are in high demand at acute care hospitals with the spread of COVID-19. Manufacturers of many types are working around the clock to convert their production lines with a goal of making new ventilators.

But that may take too long, so Anwar posted a request for help last week with a goal of increasing the capacity of the ventilators that are already in use.

Anwar’s request was posted in some user groups online and was seen by Kevin Dyer, CEO at InterPRO Additive Manufacturing Group in Deep River, which uses 3D printing to create new parts and products.

Things moved pretty quickly from there.

Dyer also did some outreach and said he would print a prototype if someone would help with design. He found Robert Conley, a mechanical design engineer who is an associate professor at Three Rivers Community College and also has his own design firm, Interactive CAD Solutions. Conley, of Lebanon, started designing the new valve apparatus Wednesday, completing it Thursday and transmitting the specifications to Dyer.

Conley said Dyer then printed the valve overnight and handed it to him outside Manchester Memorial Hospital on Friday morning.

https://www.ctnewsjunkie.com/archives/entry/20200329_covid-19_update_ventilator_splitter/
Khwaja A. said…
Dr. Saud Anwar is a devout Muslim.
Riaz Haq said…
Houston Doctor (From Pakistan) Fired for Giving Away Doses of Covid Vaccine - The New York Times

Dr. Gokal, 48, immigrated from Pakistan as a boy and earned a medical degree at SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse. After working at hospitals in Central New York, he moved to Texas in 2009 to oversee the emergency department at a suburban Houston hospital. His volunteer work has included rebuilding homes and providing medical care after Hurricane Harvey in 2017.


https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/10/us/houston-doctor-fired-covid-vaccine.html


As news of his alleged crime spread, Dr. Gokal heard from relatives and friends in Singapore, the United Arab Emirates and Pakistan. “Many were calling me for support, telling me, ‘We know you better than that,’” he said. “But there were a lot of people who didn’t call.”
Days later, a criminal court judge, Franklin Bynum, dismissed the case for lack of probable cause.

———————

“It is difficult to understand any justification for charging any well-intentioned physician in this situation with a criminal offense,” the statement said.
Dane Schiller, the district attorney’s director of communications, declined to answer questions about the case. He said in an email that when the matter is presented to a grand jury, “representatives of the community can vote on whether an indictment is warranted.”
Meanwhile, Dr. Gokal said, he continues to pay a price for not wasting a vaccine in a pandemic. His voice broke as he counted the toll.
He lost his job. His wife struggles to sleep. His children are worried. And hospitals have told him not to come back until his case is resolved.
He spends his time volunteering at a nonprofit health clinic for the uninsured, haunted all the while by the realization that no matter what, it will still be out there: the story about that Pakistani doctor in Houston who stole all those vaccines.
“How can I take it back?” that doctor asked.

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Dr. Gokal, 48, immigrated from Pakistan as a boy and earned a medical degree at SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse. After working at hospitals in Central New York, he moved to Texas in 2009 to oversee the emergency department at a suburban Houston hospital. His volunteer work has included rebuilding homes and providing medical care after Hurricane Harvey in 2017.
In recent years, Dr. Gokal split his time between two area hospitals. But when the pandemic hit in early 2020, he lived for a month in a hotel and an apartment rather than risk infecting his wife, Maria, 47, who has pulmonary sarcoidosis, a disease in her lungs that leaves her winded after even minimal activity.
“I was petrified to go home and bring Covid to my wife,” he said.
Fortunately, he said, the Harris County Public Health department recruited him in April to become the medical director for its Covid-response team. The job paid less, but he was eager to protect his wife by limiting his exposure to the coronavirus in emergency rooms.
On Dec. 22, Dr. Gokal joined a conference call in which state health officials explained the protocols for administering the recently approved Moderna vaccine. The 10 or 11 doses in a vial are viable for six hours after the seal is punctured.
Dr. Gokal said the advice was to vaccinate people eligible under the 1(a) category (health care workers and residents in long-term-care facilities), then those under the 1(b) category (people over 65 or with a health condition that increases risk of severe Covid-related illness).
After that, he said, the message was: “Just put it in people’s arms. We don’t want any doses to go to waste. Period.”
On Dec. 29, a mild Tuesday, Dr. Gokal arrived before dawn at a park in the Houston suburb of Humble to supervise a vaccination event intended mostly for emergency workers. In part because of minimal publicity, the pace was slow, with no more than 250 doses administered. But this was the county’s first public event, he said. “We knew there would be hiccups.”
Riaz Haq said…
Pakistani doctors recognize the heroes of pandemic among them | ksdk.com

https://www.ksdk.com/article/news/health/pakistani-physicians-of-st-louis-acknowledge-their-heroes-appna-who-forge-ahead-against-pandemic/63-4f5df9a5-15cb-4058-900f-3cf58ff1645e

T. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. — The Association of Physicians of Pakistani Descent of North America recognized healthcare workers for being on the front lines during the ongoing pandemic.

"I think there's strength in numbers," said Dr. Tariq Alam, St. Louis Chapter President of APPNA. "One physician alone can't win this fight. We all have to pour in our ideas. Get the best from everyone and get the best solution for our region."


For the 250-plus members, collaborating across healthcare networks in our region was easy, Dr. Alam said. He also says it brought doctors closer to the community.

"We have many who have language barriers, or economic barriers," Dr. Alam said. "Basically being able to reach out to them, I think that is one of our highlights."

Member and St. Louis County Health Director Dr. Faisal Khan said there's not enough praise to go around.


"The only reason we aren't looking at a 3 million or 4 million death count is because of the selfless work and sacrifice of healthcare providers across the country," Dr. Khan said. "We owe them everything."

Khan said the work isn't done yet.

"I am very happy that nearly 35% in the St. Louis region is vaccinated," Dr. Khan said. "I am equally worried that 65% of us are not. We are not out of this yet."

Khan is happy that county leaders support strong health guidelines until we cross the finish line. He said it's going to take more community action before things return to normal.

"It depends entirely on how the virus behaves, on the number of people getting vaccinated and the spread of disease in smaller communities in high-risk groups," Khan said.

Until then, doctors say mask up and get the vaccine or encourage others to do so.

Riaz Haq said…
#Netflix cuts prices in #Pakistan to grow #streaming business. The Standard plan now costs Rs 800 per month whereas the Premium plan is now priced at Rs 1,100. The plans were earlier, Rs 1500 and Rs 1200 respectively. #entertainment #movies #online https://tribune.com.pk/story/2324797/netflix-lowers-prices-in-pakistan


While Netflix recently hiked prices in NZ, Netherlands as well as Spain, the company has reduced prices in Pakistan

Last month Netflix announced it is launching a free mobile plan in Kenya as the global streaming giant hopes to bank on the 20 million internet users the country offers. The plan will allow users to sign up free of cost and includes ads.

Netflix has experimented with a different price offerings in different countries to attract customers, esp in developing nations. The mobile plans offered in India and Pakistan are one such example.


Riaz Haq said…
(Pakistani-American) Amna Nawaz and Geoff Bennett Named Co-Anchors of PBS NewsHour
Nawaz and Bennett to Succeed Judy Woodruff on Monday, January 2, 2023

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/press-releases/amna-nawaz-and-geoff-bennett-named-co-anchors-of-pbs-newshour

"Today is a day I never could’ve imagined when I began my journalism career years ago, or while growing up as a first-generation, Muslim, Pakistani-American. I’m grateful, humbled, and excited for what’s ahead.”


Sharon Rockefeller, President and CEO of WETA and President of NewsHour Productions, today named PBS NewsHour chief correspondent Amna Nawaz and chief Washington correspondent and PBS News Weekend anchor Geoff Bennett co-anchors of the nightly newscast. The PBS NewsHour, co-anchored by Nawaz and Bennett, will launch on Monday, January 2, 2023. Nawaz and Bennett succeed Judy Woodruff, who has solo-anchored PBS’s nightly news broadcast since 2016, prior to which she co-anchored it alongside the late Gwen Ifill.

Bennett has reported from the White House under three presidents and has covered five presidential elections. He joined NewsHour in 2022 from NBC News, where he was a White House correspondent and substitute anchor for MSNBC. In his prior experience, he worked for NPR — beginning as an editor for Weekend Edition and later as a reporter covering Congress and the White House. An Edward R. Murrow Award recipient, Bennett began his journalism career at ABC News’ World News Tonight.

On being named co-anchor of PBS NewsHour, Geoff Bennett said, “I’m proud to work with such a stellar group of journalists in pursuit of a shared mission — providing reliable reporting, solid storytelling and sharp analysis of the most important issues of the day. It’s why PBS NewsHour is one of television’s most trusted and respected news programs and why I’m honored and excited to partner with Amna in building on its rich legacy.”

Nawaz, who has received Peabody Awards for her reporting at NewsHour on January 6, 2021 and global plastic pollution, has served as NewsHour’s primary substitute anchor since she joined the NewsHour in 2018. She previously was an anchor and correspondent at ABC News, anchoring breaking news coverage and leading the network’s livestream coverage of the 2016 presidential election. Before that, she served as foreign correspondent and Islamabad Bureau Chief at NBC News. She is also the founder and former managing editor of NBC’s Asian America platform, and began her journalism career at ABC News Nightline just weeks before the attacks of September 11, 2001.

On being named co-anchor, Amna Nawaz added, “It’s never been more important for people to have access to news and information they trust, and the entire NewsHour team strives relentlessly towards that goal every day. I am honored to be part of this mission, to work with colleagues I admire and adore, and to take on this new role alongside Geoff as we help write the next chapter in NewsHour’s story. Today is a day I never could’ve imagined when I began my journalism career years ago, or while growing up as a first-generation, Muslim, Pakistani-American. I’m grateful, humbled, and excited for what’s ahead.”

In making the announcement, Rockefeller noted, “PBS NewsHour continues to be dedicated to excellence in journalism. Amna and Geoff bring to their new positions three essential qualities for the role – accomplished careers in substantive reporting, dedication to the purpose of journalism to illuminate and inform, and a deep respect for our audiences and the mission of public media.”


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