Religion divides U.S., Pakistani medicine

Professor says religion is the major factor in Pakistani medical care.

By Ettie Berneking

Published Oct. 26, 2007

There's more separating Pakistan and the United States than just the Pacific Ocean, Farhat Moazam said in a presentation on organ transplant Wednesday.

Moazam is the founding chairwoman and professor at the Centre of Biomedical Ethics and Culture at the Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation in Karachi, Pakistan.

She spoke about the differences between U.S. and Pakistani medical practices.

The biggest difference is religion, Moazam said.

"The science and technology used in Pakistan is the same as in the United

States, but the methods in Pakistan are guided by tradition and religion," she said.

The Center on Religion and the Professions sponsored the lecture.

Center spokeswoman Amy White said this overlap of religion and profession is what the center wanted the audience to notice.

"We really hope that people will see how religion and culture can relate to a

profession and then see how it impacts what they do in any field," White said.

In Pakistan, 97 percent of the country's people practice Islam, according to the U.S. Library of Congress.

Moazam said Pakistan is riddled with kidney disease and has little means of helping the flood of patients who are in need of a kidney transplant.

Moazam accredited the prominence of kidney disease to the high frequency of diabetes, hypertension and Pakistan's lack of a developed health care system.

Dialysis is a typical procedure that provides an artificial replacement for patients who have lost their kidney function due to renal failure, but for most patients in Pakistan, the cost of dialysis is too much.

To drive home the economic difference between U.S. and Pakistani families, Moazam said the per capita income in Pakistan is approximately $500.

In the United States, the per capita income as of 2005 was $34,586, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce.

The alternative to dialysis — transplant — is just as difficult because of Pakistani culture.

In Pakistan, Moazam worked at a free public institute where those seeking kidney transplants could receive service for no charge.

Pakistani medical practices do not allow the use of organs from cadavers or from a donor from outside the family.

Moazam said often, the physician will pressure the family to donate a kidney.

"There is tremendous variation of culture," Moazam said.

The Center on Religion has had several speakers come to campus, including speakers on Muslims in North

America, religious literacy and American politics and spirituality in health and healing.

The center will be holding a lecture on blending religious principles in conflict resolution in January, White said.