The Hindu Business Line : New vision, closer bond

WHEN she goes back to Karachi, the five-year-old Pakistani girl, who underwent liver transplant early this month, would like to tell her teacher that she can see like any other kid of her age does.

Before setting off for India along with her parents, Batool Hasan had told her teacher and friends that she was going to get her eyes cleared of the yellowish tinge.

It was a symptom of a jaundice caused by a genetic defect called Allagille's Syndrome.

A fortnight after the transplantation at Global Hospitals, Batool accompanied her parents at a press conference.

All smiles, she told her grandpa in Karachi over phone that she was longing to meet him. "I will come back the moment I got the nod from the doctors," she told her grandfather.

Presenting the girl before the media, Dr Ramesh Kancherla, paediatric hepatologist, said now she is completely all right.

In medical terms, her bilirubin level fell from 18 to two, which indicates clearance of jaundice up to 95 per cent. "Her liver enzymes have returned to normal levels. Her cholesterol level has come down to 175 from 475, resulting in the disappearance of ugly bulges on the body."

The surgery, which would have cost around Rs 14 lakh to Rs 15 lakh, was carried out free of cost on August 7.

But Batool's problems are far from over. Her parents need to return to Pakistan before September 11, when their visa grant expires.

Doctors at the hospital say the girl needs at least a couple of months of stay at the hospital.

According to Dr K. Ravindranath, Managing Director of Global Hospitals, the visa issue shouldn't be a problem.

"We will write to the authorities concerned for grant of extended visa stay keeping in mind Batool's condition," he said. But the police think otherwise.

The office of Commissioner of Police reportedly told the couple that it was not in their hands.

Batool's father, who donated part of his liver to his daughter, feels that bilateral ties between the two countries should improve.

"The visa restrictions should be eased in order to facilitate free movement of people in both the directions," he feels. "We don't know what is available here and vice versa," he says.

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