| January 6, 2003 | Monday | Ziqa’ad 2, 1423 |
More of Jane Austen’s Prejudices
Life goes on
Counterproductive and self-defeating: KARACHI FILE
A poem of complex experience!
The physician in the pharmaceutical industry
AS the country’s largest city, Karachi owes it to itself to be a trend-setter, a role model. Last week was not the one that would do it proud. Medical staff, that is postgraduate doctors, of Jinnah Postgraduate Medical College, went on strike. It is something that leaves one speechless, numb. Patients were left to their aches and pains. It defies belief that normal human beings, holding responsible positions, would do such a thing under any circumstances.
A CAREER working for a drug company is an alternative that is too often overlooked by physicians. Practising physicians are needed by the research-based pharmaceutical industry in many areas, ranging from the pre-clinical screening of new drugs through the marketing of the approved products.
What is the legal position of the PPPP-Patriots now that the floor-crossing law has been revived? Those who now style themselves as P-5 are not a group of independents as they have not yet renounced their membership of the party on whose ticket they were returned. In fact they have consistently claimed on record that they still belonged to the P-4 of Makhdoom Amin Fahim. They have also not been removed from the party. The only action so far taken against was by the P-3 of Benazir Bhutto which removed those of the Patriots who were members of the Central Executive Committee. The Election Commission, too, does not recognize the P-5 as a separate entity from the P-4 because the Patriot is not registered with the EC.
The so-called “vote of conscious”, (more appropriately called General Zamir Ka Vote) which each one of the P-5 members cast in favour of Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali on two occasions, when the floor-crossing law was in abeyance, once when he was elected the leader of the House and the next time when he went for vote of confidence, cannot be recalled. And neither can the P-5 members be punished for this vote because at the time they cast their vote the relevant law was in abeyance. What is done is done. But the question is, with the revival of the relevant law could the P-5 members sit on the treasury benches when their Party on whose ticket they had won their respective elections is sitting on the opposition benches? Some of them have gone and joined the cabinet as well.
Under the revived defection law as amended by the military government through the Legal Framework Order (LFO) if (63A.1) a member of a parliamentary party composed of single political party in a House: a) resigns from membership of his political party or joins another parliamentary party; or b) votes or abstains from voting in the House contrary to any direction issued by the parliamentary party to which he belongs, in relations to; i) election of the prime minister or the chief minister, ii) in vote of confidence or a vote of no-confidence, iii) and on a money bill; he may be declared in writing by the head of the parliamentary party to have defected from political party and may forward the declaration to the Presiding Officer of the House and copy thereof to the member concerned. Under (63A.2) a member of a House shall be deemed to be a member of a parliamentary party if he having been elected as a candidate or nominee of a political party has become a member of such a parliamentary party after such election by means of a declaration in writing. The Speaker can keep the declaration of the party leader with him only for two days and would have to refer it to the CEC for a decision by the EC within thirty days.
If one went by this law in its strictest sense, then the P-5 members will face unseating now only if they vote on the money bill (the budget) contrary to the direction issued by the PPPP parliamentary party. Or if between now and the budget time, a no confidence motion is moved against the Prime Minister and the P-5 members vote once again in accordance with their conscious. Still, it would be interesting to find out through a reference to the superior courts how those of the P-5 members who have joined the federal and provincial cabinets would remain immune from being affected by the defection law? Additionally, what would happen when the time comes finally for the Speaker to allot separate seats in the House to the ruling alliance and the opposition? If he allots the P-5 seats on the opposition benches, the Speaker would be creating an untenable situation as nowhere in the world where the parliamentary form of government is in vogue cabinet members sit on the opposition benches. But if the Speaker allots them seats on the treasury benches then by implication he himself would have approved their defection (under 63A clause 1(a)). Would he then (after the fact) not have created the required legal space for the P-4 head, Makhdoom Amin Fahim, to send to him a declaration that the P-4 members sitting on the treasury benches have by implication resigned from the party on whose ticket they were elected and therefore should be unseated?
There is just one problem with going to the superior courts for help on this matter. The judges have so far not taken oath to preserve and protect the revived Constitution. They are still under the oath that they have taken under the PCO which does not exist any more. But for all intents and purposes they seem to be beholden to the Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) and draw their present ‘judicial’ powers from the barrel of the gun of the Army chief who seems to be on a trip to the wonderful land of pragmatism. President General Pervez Musharraf has made it abundantly clear on more than one occasion that in order to bring the Army in to keep it out he was prepared to go to any lengths on the excuse of pragmatism and let his minions, Tariq Aziz and General Ihtasham Zamir, break any law in their quest for a pliable parliament. So, only those who wish to obtain a ‘judicial’ clearance for lotaism despite the revival of the defection clause would, perhaps, approach the superior courts for help in this connection. But then there is no bar against throwing up such questions for public debate from any platform that is available to the concerned citizens of this country.—Onlooker
I have been reproducing parts of the Jane Austen’s history of England by a Partial, Prejudiced and Ignorant Historian. This brief history begins with Henry IV and ends with Charles I. It was completed on Saturday, November 26, 1791. The rest of history begins like this:
JAMES THE 1ST: Though this king had some faults, among which and as the most principal, was his allowing his mother’s death, yet considered on the whole I cannot help liking him. He married Anne of Denmark and had several children; fortunately for him and his eldest son Prince Henry died before his father or he might have experienced the evils which befell his unfortunate brother.
As I am myself partial to the Roman Catholic religion, it is with infinite regret that I am obliged to blame the behaviour of any member of it; yet truth being I think very excusable in an Historian, I am necessitated to say that in this region the Roman Catholics of England did not behave like gentlemen to the Protestants. Their behaviour indeed to the Royal Family and both houses of parliament might justly be considered by them as very uncivil and even Sir Henry Percy tho certainly the best bred man of the party. Had none of that general politeness, which is so universally pleasing, as his attentions were entirely confined to Lord Mounteagle. Sir Walter Raleigh flourished in this and the preceding reign and is by many people held in great veneration and respect. But as he was and enemy of the noble Essex, I have nothing to say in praise of him and must refer all those who may wish to be acquainted with the particulars of his life to Mr Sheridan’s play of the critic, where they will find many interesting anecdotes as well of him as of his friend Sir Christopher Hatton.——-His Majesty was of that amiable disposition which inclines to friendship, and in such points was possessed of a keener penetration in discovering merit than many other people. I once heard an excellent sharade on a carpet of which the subject I am now on reminds me and as I think it may afford my readers some amusement to find it out, I shall here take the liberty of presenting it to them.
Sharade
My first is what my second was to King James the Ist, and you tread on my whole.
The principal favourites of His Majesty were car, who was afterwards created Earl of Somerset and whose name may have some shave in the above mentioned Sharade, and George Villers, afterward Duke of Buckingham. On his Majesty’s death he was succeeded by his son Charles.
Charles the Ist: This amiable monarch seems born to have suffered misfortunes equal to those of his lovely grandmother; misfortunes which he could not deserve since he was her descendant. Never certainly was there before so many detestable characters at one time in England as in this period of history; never were amiable men so scarce. The number of them throughout the whole kingdom amounting only to five, besides the inhabitants of Oxford who were always loyal to their king and faithful to his interest. The names of this noble give who never forgot the duty of the subject or swerved from their attachments to His Majesty were as follows, —- The king himself, ever steadfast in his own support —- Archbishop Laud, Earl of Strafford, Viscount Faulkland and Duke of Ormond. While the villains of the time would make too long a list to be written or read, I shall therefore content myself with mentioning the leaders of the gang. Cromwell, Fairfax, Hampden, and Pym may be considered as the original causers of all the disturbances distresses and civil wars in which England for many years was embroiled. In this reign as well as in that of Elizabeth, I am obliged inspite of my attachments to Scotch, to consider them as equally guilty with the generality of the English, since they dared to think differently from their sovereign, to forget the adoration which as Stuarts it was their duty to pay them, to rebel against, dethrone and imprison the unfortunate Mary; to oppose, to deceive, and to sell the no less unfortunate Charles.
The event of this monarch’s reign are too numerous for my pen, and indeed the recital of any events (except what I make myself) is uninteresting to me; my principal reason for undertaking the history of England being to prove the innocence of the Queen of Scotland, which I flatter myself with having effectually done, and to abuse Elizabeth, (tho’ I am rather fearful of having fallen short in the latter part of my scheme). As therefore it is not my intention to give any particular account of the distresses into which this King was involved through the misconduct and cruelty of his parliament, I shall satisfy myself with vindicating him from the reproach of arbitrary and tyrannical government with which he has often been charged. This I feel, is not difficult to be done, for with one argument I am certain of satisfying every sensible and well disposed person whose opinions have been properly guided by a good education —- he and this argument is that he was a STUART.
Now what manner of woman was Jane Austen? According to the selfsame history, Jane Austen, a seventh child, was born at Steventon Rectory, Haulshire, on December 15, 1775.
1791 — when almost 16, she wrote this history and in 1797 wrote Pride and Prejudice.
1801—1809, she lived in Bath and in 1809—1817, at Chawton, Hamsphire.
18 July 1817— she died in Winchester. She was a tall, slender, hazel-eyed brunette and children liked her. Her only sister, Cassandra, was two years older. Her brother, Francis, was a midshipman who became an admiral. Mrs Lefroy was a neighbour and Mrs Knight, a friend. This history published by the Quince Tree Press, England, carries the following note: These books hover between a greeting and a present. They fit a common envelope and go for minimum postage. In cold bedrooms only one hand to the wrist need suffer exposure. A distinguished novelist recommends them for reading in the bath. An ambassador, albeit an American, claims they can be palmed from the cuff during tedious speeches and profitless sermons.
I HAVE received a letter from Syed Mohammad Hosain of North Nazimabad Karachi. He wants me to reproduce the following letter, the late Mr Sohrab Khattak wrote to Dawn in 1967.
“Sir —- says a wit; “The ages between 15 and 20 are like Africa —- half-virgin, half explored; ages between 20 and 30 are like Asia- — partly human, partly mysterious and partly explosive; the ages between 30 and 40 are like America that is technically perfect; the ages between 40 and 50 are like Europe, that is, half ruined and half on the verge of ruin; and the ages between 50 and onwards are like Russia, where everybody is welcome, but nobody wants to go”.
How far is it true, only women can say.
“It will be interesting to have a reply from any bright one of that sex”.
What do you have to say to a 35-year old letter whose author is no longer alive?
The year past saw brisk business for the merchants of death, especially in this port city. With explosions, shootouts and bombings galore, one is sure that a hefty profit must have been turned in for those who deal in the commodities of death, fear and hysteria. Such is the unnatural fallout of the ‘war on terrorism.’ Who the terrorists and who the crusaders for global justice are in this God forsaken conflict is still unclear.
Yet it always seems that Karachi suffers the most for the decisions made at the Centre. Regardless of the moral implications of our inclusion at the front of this ‘war’ and the geo-political machinations of the establishment, one thing was crystal clear: despite all the violence and murderous intrigues that rocked the city, life in Karachi went on as normal — as normal as life can be in these times of flux. It is definitely a compliment to Karachi’s citizens that even with all this chaos and disorder, Karachiites have yet to develop a siege mentality.
Look around. Weddings are taking place on a daily basis with renewed pomp and ostentation, even more so now that the ordnance on wasteful expenditures has lapsed. People are enjoying themselves, concerts are happening, film festivals are taking place. All the indicators of a normal society seem to be present, and given the fashion in which we enjoy ourselves and celebrate our festive occasions, you’d be foolish to think we are a Third World society living on hand-me-downs. But why should ordinary people suffer for the sins of our rulers who bungle and botch our foreign and economic policies ? Don’t ordinary citizens deserve a break from the drab industrial lifestyle that has become the trademark of a globalization-ridden world? But is it not apathy that even when bombs are exploding in our backyards and the threat of war looms from across the eastern borders, we while away time in merriment? Depends on whom you ask. What should the reaction be to all this wanton carnage? Should we lock ourselves up in our homes, refrain from any expression of joy and play requiems for the lost dream of progress and normalcy? Or should we learn to live in anarchy, put up a courageous poker face and brave the coming storms with determination and urbane sophistication? The answer, it seems, is obvious. The world will not change for the better through these futile wars of rhetoric.
Evil will not be wiped out with one mighty stroke of Uncle Sam’s sword, and ‘terrorism’ will not end until greed, poverty and disenfranchisement of the toiling classes and nations is not alleviated. Until Providence decrees otherwise, life shall go on, however chaotic, in Karachi and elsewhere.
Petty thefts of mobile phones registered a sharp increase in the city last week and authorities link the phenomenon to the president’s virtually week-long shaadi-gracing tour of the city. Ever since the attempted assassinations on the president, and the knowledge that mobile phones can serve as bomb triggering devices, security for General Musharraf requires that he not be within the vicinity of a mobile phone — or rather, that a mobile phone should not be anywhere near him.
Thus at every wedding which he was expected to attend in the city, lesser VIP guests were temporarily separated from their mobile phones. At the wedding of the son of an ex information minister, Karachi’s dressed to the teeth glitterati were stripped of a crucial accessory, their natty Nokias and singing Samsungs.
A very efficient system of serial numbered deposit slips was in effect at a table outside the huge white marquee set up in the front yard of a creekside hotel. Guests to this wedding were already disgruntled by the fact that they could not park their cars anywhere along the wall outside the hotel. Cars had to be parked in the vast sandy wasteland across the road — another security precaution for our endangered president.
And then there was the messy matter of the mobiles. A queue had formed in front of the entrance to the marquee, mainly composed of ladies-in-waiting while spouses crowded the desk where they exchanged cell phones for a serial-numbered slip of paper that would later help them reclaim the vital accessory. This turned out to be no safeguard against phone theft, however, as several guests discovered an hour later.
There was pandemonium at the desk when they turned up to repossess their phones. Not only were many cell phones trilling away in Mozart or Nokia tones (no-one had bothered to switch their phones off), people found that no-one had bothered to tally the serial numbers. The result: a great opportunity for a cell phone upgrade - people dropped their old Nokia 3310s like a PML-N allegiance and walked off with a new Samsung little wonder. Karachiites have been taught a valuable lesson. If you want to keep your natty Nokia or singing Samsung, hang up on the president!
It took the Karachi police exactly four weeks to take down the cordon they had erected round the DHA house where the Honorary Consulate of Macedonia was housed before it was blown up two days before Eid in early December. Those using the road on which the consulate was located had to find alternate routes because the road had been blocked by the police after the bomb destroyed the house.
The reason the police gave for cordoning off the area was that they were investigating. One would concede that there was much to investigate. Three people had been found dead in the house after the blast — but they had not been blown up by the bomb or crushed by the house collapse. They had been murdered, and the bodies were found with their hands tied and throats slit. Of the three, the presence of only one, the chowkidar, could be accounted for. Of the others, one of them was a woman which further deepened the mystery.
With the police investigations having failed to yield any clue, people continue to wonder and guess who the people behind this gruesome crime were and what was their motive. Is that surprising? Not at all, because Pakistan has a long tradition of murder cases remaining unsolved, starting with the assassination of the the first prime minister of the country, Liaquat Ali Khan.
But the police had to show that they were working. Hence the cordon at the Macedonian consulate. There was hardly any sign of activity there after the initial few days when the debris and the furniture were removed — the former being dumped on an empty plot across the road.
The bomb has managed to create a lot of panic in the area, though. The residents now view every odd bag or package lying around with a great deal of suspicion.
THE eunuchs of Karachi have apparently fallen on bad times. You can find a number of them asking for alms from motorists at traffic intersections in Clifton. They go from car to car, clapping in their inimitable style and trying to win over a little money. Most motorists find the encounters embarrassing, but some match the eunuchs’ levity with some of their own.
Eunuchs have of course always performed for money. But they hadn’t so far been forced to beg. They would materialize at weddings and births and sing, even dance, and invoke God’s blessings on the lucky couple or the new born. They were an accepted part of festivities, and still are in many parts of the country. How they manage to get wind of every birth and marriage in a locality has always been a mystery. Their information network should be the envy of many intelligence services.
What has happened over the years perhaps is that the idea of entertainment has drastically changed. There are now military pipe bands and pop groups at weddings, and other celebratory occasions have also become more ostentatious and snobbish. Eunuchs are seen as lowly intruders who should be shooed away. In the process, another bit of tradition is being chipped away.
Karachi appears particularly to have become a little too impersonal. It is sad to see the city’s eunuchs reduced to such straits at a time when the counterpart breed in India has become organized enough to hold a national convention to discuss its problems and its future.— By Karachian
email: karachi_notebook@hotmail.com
It is generally believed that nearly five centuries before Christ, a Greek man of medicine, Hippocrates (c460-357 BC) laid down the principle that a doctor shall consider as inviolable the commitment to attend to his/her patient. One should expect postgraduate doctors to be doubly conscious of their primary and ultimate responsibility that is to attend to the needs of the patient in their charge.
Whether the demands/ grievances/complaints of the striking doctors were genuine or not is irrelevant, as far as the categorical imperative of the ethics of the medical profession and service is concerned. Postgraduate doctors are expected to set an example for their junior brothers and sisters in the profession. Whether or not the law has anything to say on this subject is perhaps unclear. It is about time the law was made able to take cognizance of such situations.
Be that as it may, there is a clear moral dimension to this kind of contingency. Perhaps even more delicate is the issue from a humanitarian point of view. Can one condone the fact that a person — man, woman, child — has been left in pain by those who are bound to attend to him/her? Those who visit a hospital, or are admitted to its wards, have a wholly unqualified right to complete attention from medical staff. Period. Striking doctors’ conduct remains irredeemable. How serious were the doctors’ grievances would remain a subordinate and subsidiary factor. There may be a dozen different ways in which to air those grievances and agitate for their acceptance. Abandoning patients to their pain and agony cannot be a legitimate tactic, strategy or instrument. This comes perilously close to an act of inhumanity. How would one look at a possible death resulting from abrupt denial or refusal of medical treatment? This is a question that the doctors going on strike have still to answer.
No less unsettling is the question of political agitations in the streets. Last Friday platoons of the alliance of the religious parties took to the streets in Karachi. It is hard to feel very comfortable about mobilizing the Friday prayer assemblage for rank partisan political purposes. One would perceive something of indelicate opportunism in turning Friday prayer gatherings into occasions for political warfare.
By and large, the people of Pakistan are unhappy over what they see as a distinct element of indiscriminate intolerance towards Muslims in the policies adopted by a superpower. International news agencies report extraordinary measures being taken, exclusively targeting Muslims. Even if allowance is made for some measure of exaggeration or sensationalization, there remains sufficient ground to feel aggrieved and hurt.
Public sentiment must be given unhindered expression. There can be no question about the public right to express disapproval and concern. It is there and must be respected. But is street agitation the most effective and the most elegant way of rejecting what is seen as wrong and demanding that the wrongs be righted? For most sober and sane people the answer to this undeniably pertinent question would be in a firm negative.
The attempt to make political mileage out of the issues the Friday agitation in Karachi (also elsewhere in Pakistan) was focusing on, cannot be seen with much equanimity. Public peace and maintenance of order in the streets should be treated as a basic requirement of civilized living. People drawn out of the avenues of normal life and urged or instigated to disrupt order, leaves one with the feeling that this kind of protest demonstration is lowering the level of political action. This only detracts from the dignity of the message sought to be conveyed to the party whose action is deemed as unfair and unworthy.
Because of its special status, Karachi becomes the first choice of those who believe street rumpus can be pressed into political service. Neither the doctor’s strike nor the noisy and disorderly street agitation of the religious parties can be approved. Besides, it needs to be noted that the religious party alliance is now very much in the business of hard-nosed politics. If Karachi is to maintain its high profile, it has to remain dignified even when the public sentiment should be one of intense anger and deep anguish.
Noisy street agitation is a dangerous political weapon. It is not always easy to keep such agitations within the bounds of peace and decency. Karachi has seen protest processions turning into riotous situations. We have seen buses put on fire, private cars stoned, newspaper offices ransacked, banks looted. Hand-to-hand fights in the wake of protest demonstrations are not unknown.
This kind of disorder is a luxury this prime centre of business, finance and industry cannot afford to indulge in. It sends the wrong signals to the outside world from where we expect investment, trade, profit and support to national economy. It is with great difficulty that Karachi has retrieved its position as a safe place for investment. Street rumpus does this city no good and it does not really advance the cause in whose name angry processions are taken out.
“We are escorted on every hand through life, and a beneficent purpose lies in wait for us”.
—American writer Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-82).
The light, personal essay — or inshaaiya, as it is now being developed as a form of writing in Urdu — by Prof Jamil Azar, began with this sentence from one of the essays of Emerson (don’t some people consider Emerson as being one poet from where Allama Iqbal drew his inspiration for some of his thought-provoking poems for children like Pahar and Gillahrey — mountain and squirrel - etc.!).
The occasion was the regular meeting of Halqa-i-Arbabe-Zauq in Islamabad on Saturday, where participants looked at postulates developed by Jamil Azar in his essay. And its analysis, in the usual merciless, Halqa-style discussions which sometimes (not always, to keep the record straight) results in a match of mere wordy, intellectual acrobatics.
The thesis developed in the essay, in sum, was that man is protected, at every step through a divine design; and hidden spiritual force saves us at every step (Although the writer also spoke of the way chance and fate destroy characters in the novels of Thomas Hardy). Even in Hazrat Adam’s exodus from heaven, one found that man was given a new, vice-regent status in this world. Our home, our family, our city and our country he called the concrete shape of “spiritual elements” which keep us fortified in their ramparts; and there are also other, higher spiritual elements, not visible to us, which keep us safe in their castle of safety. And yet, despite all these protections we suffer (what a Hamlet would call “the slings and arrows of outrageous misfortune”!). The answer, the writer thought, lay in the fact that we break this spiritual circle by pandering to our unbridled desires. In explaining this he quoted the example from Hindu mythology of Lakhsman Rekha, (rekha in Hindi means line) when Lakhsman left Sita after drawing a line around her which would burn anybody crossing it. Ravan, in the guise of a deer appeared and Sita herself crossed the line. Ravan got the chance to take her away with him, which lead to gory battles till such time as Sita was not recovered. The writer felt that ethnic groups, languages, civilizations and cultures were like lines and colours of a rainbow. According to him when we crossed the rekha, the line, we interfered with cultures and civilizations; and the equilibrium was disturbed.
Let the reader judge for himself, and take the nuances arising to task for his critical evaluation as was done by a number of participants, including both at his thesis and the logic that some thought was contradictory in some respect. But as some one said, when the intellectual is not able to find the way he uses what is called the fuzzy logic.
Then there were interesting haikos (a Japanese form of poem which has three lines) by Khaliqur Rehman, who as joint secretary of the Halqa is reputed for very comprehensive reports of meetings of the Halqa every week. There was the discussion of whether it conformed to the form of haiko where not very deep thoughts are supposed to be spelt out. Some one said deep thought may not be in conformity with the Shinto-Buddhist aura from which the practice of haiko began in Japan. Others thought that the forms are never kept intact when they are exported to other languages and climes, and haiko no longer remains Japanese haiko in its purest form when it is transfused into another lingua and a different setting. Someone even mentioned that a Japanese fruit that was grown here was not of either the Japanese shape or of the same taste. (One remembered flowers in some countries of Europe which look very beautiful but give no scented odour) Some even objected to saying wah wah at the end of some of these haikos — one thought when haiko in Urdu will be written and read by a Pakistani in a gathering of Pakistanis the poetry will have to be applauded in our own tradition. One can do way with this, perhaps, when one is reading poetry in English or Japanese but one has noticed even English poetry recitations being applauded with a kind of wah wah in Pakistan (One of the haikos of Khaliq for the reader:
Qabar par teri phool daley hain
Khawab mein bhi kabhi na socha tha
Yoon bhi main tujh say milnay aaoonga.
(I have garlanded your grave I had into even dreams in life I shall come to meet you in such a situation.)
Then there was the beautiful prose-poem Saaye Ka Aitraf (the confession of the shadow) by Dr Sarwat Zehra in which, as one participant thought, the poet was going through a highly complex experience, which according to another participant, was not transferable, as it were, in totality. Then the question of a particular form of expression by women poets was also discussed. And then some one raised the idea of why divide poetry on gender basis. (A few, last lines for the reader:
So ab tumhari aankhon kay aainay mein
Main naheen
Sirf aik saaye ka iztrab dolta nazar aa raha hai.
(So now I am not in the mirrors of your eyes. Only the restlessness of a shadow Is seen reeling).
Certainly the quotation and the translation do not give the real effect of the poem but, dear reader, one can do no more! After a long time one saw some presiding over the Halqa meeting in a real, literary manner, and Rafiq Sandhelvi deserves the remark. Those taking part in the discussions included Akbar Hameedi, Akhtar Usman, Jaleel Aali, Ali Mohammad Farshi, Agha Pir Mohammad and Jamil Azar. —Mufti Jamiluddin Ahmad
The needs of the pharmaceutical industry are deceptively simple. Research-based drug firms need to collaborate and cooperate with leading clinical investigators to conduct well-controlled, state-of-the-art drug trials.
An ongoing relationship with academicians and clinical consultants satisfies the immediate, short-term needs of the industry by providing second opinions on the uses of certain investigational and marketed drugs or on a drug development plan.
Practising physicians can also act as spokespersons for their peers concerning particular drugs or treatment approaches.
Academic consultants, however, are important as medical educators for industry physicians, who are required to remain in touch with current trends in medical practice and who frequently arrange for clinical orientation programmes.
On a long-term basis, the pharmaceutical industry always requires scientific and medical professionals to affirm the efficacy and safety of medications in the clinical research pipeline; to ensure the medical validity of scientific, educational, and promotional information; and to assess the medical impact of drugs proposed for licensing or for development through a new drug application (NDA).
The pharmaceutical industry has much to offer a physician; it’s more than just trading a stethoscope for a briefcase and a pen or a lab coat for a business suit. It’s being a team player at all times and learning to access your creativity on demand. The rewards include opportunities for enrichment through continuing medical education programmes; attendance at medical and scientific meetings; availability of textbooks and journal subscriptions as needed, and excursions to marketing and management meetings as part of the job.
For a pharmaceutical physician (PP), all this has engendered a somewhat different life-style than he had become used to as a clinician. There have been predictable hours and dependable vacations even at times of year when he would previously have had to fight “tooth and nail” to get some free time.
Although he has the opportunity to do so, he may no longer be required to attend hospital rounds. He also has to give up the dubious privilege of answering emergency calls. Also, regular pay is not something hard to get used to. He can also practise medicine by maintaining a clinic or being a part of a teaching faculty on a part-time basis or as arranged with his employers.
As a member of the companies sales-force education team, he is often called upon to create a meaningful way of communicating medical concepts and rationales for treatment to sales representatives.
The pharmaceutical industry generally recruits practising physicians by advertising career opportunities in leading newspapers. Word-of-month, bulletin board postings at national meetings, and the use of executive recruiters also provide excellent candidates to fill industry positions.
Once you’re a member of the industry, further career mobility is possible within your firm if another position is more appealing. There are ample opportunities in the field of sales and marketing, research and development and training, besides the medical department. If he proves his worth working in a company he can also be promoted to regional level, working in the regional headquarter or the therapeutic areas as an expatriate employee and also head the company.
ROLES: Medical marketing and medical services are two areas in which physicians are employed as full-time managers, but with an opportunity to use their medical skills. Physicians in these areas ensure that promotional and educational materials put out by the various parts of a firm’s marketing division are medically valid and reflect current and accepted medical opinion. An industry physician also will assist in training the sales representatives and may be involved in conducting Phase IV drug studies.
In research and development (in a multinational pharmaceutical industry), physicians generally are included throughout the drug development process, from Phase 0 (the pre-clinical evolution and screening of new compounds) to the comprehensive Phase III clinical trials conducted in support of an NDA. Industry physicians are then needed to provide to the health authorities overall safety and efficacy evaluation and the medical rationale for approval of a new drug.
The physicians of the pharmaceutical industry also become part of the team responsible for ongoing safety surveillance and documentation of a drug’s approved uses. These Phase IV studies and all drug safety studies of marketed drugs require a physician’s direction.
Although referred to variously as a company’s medical affairs, professional services, or medical services department, all are responsible for answering queries by healthcare professional about a firm’s products. Members of these departments are also asked to ensure the accuracy and appropriateness of product information and medical concepts used in the training of the sales force. In essence he is the custodian of ethics and ensures that these are fully incorporated in all fields.
The following gives the outline of the job requirement of a PP:
Prerequisite: up-to-date knowledge of pharmacology and therapeutics; discovery of medicines; pharmaceutical development; toxicity testing; regulatory, legal and ethical issues; development of medicines; clinical trials; medical statistics; safety of medicines; regulatory affairs; information, promotion and education; economics of healthcare and function of the medical department.
As can be seen from the above, the pharmaceutical physician is a very important member of the team running the pharmaceutical industry. He can ensure the setting, maintenance and improvement of standards in pharmaceutical medicines needed for the benefit of patients and the health of the community.
Faculty of PP is being established in the UK (Royal Colleges) and other European countries. It is also under serious consideration by the American association. Once these are established and with university level courses being run already by different universities working up to a diploma examination, this faculty shall be established very soon.
Pharmaceutical physicians have formed a body internationally known as the International Federation of Associations of Pharmaceutical Physicians (IFAPP). Their mission “is to promote pharmaceutical medicine by enhancing the knowledge, expertise and skills of pharmaceutical physicians worldwide, thus leading to the availability and appropriate use of medicines for the benefit of patients and society.”
Pakistan having its own association (Pakistan Association of Pharmaceutical Physicians (PAPP) is a member of the international body.
The writer is the vice-president of PAPP.