Indus Hospital & Health Network Celebrates International Women’s Day 2023

In commemoration of International Women’s Day 2023, Indus Hospital & Health Network (IHHN) invited distinguished speakers to hold awareness sessions for the benefit of IHHN employees. Celebrations took place at Indus Hospital, Korangi Campus, and Recep Tayyip Erdogan Hospital (RTEH), Muzaffargah.

Dr. Huma Baqai, Rector, Millennium Institute of Technology and Entrepreneurship (MiTE) gave an enlightening talk at Indus Hospital, Korangi Campus, with a focus on this year’s theme: “DigitALL: Innovation and Technology for Gender Equality”. The topic of the session was “The Fault Lines in Stem Education for Women: A Perspective from Pakistan”.

Pakistan suffers from an extensive education crisis, with women making up less than 10% of the STEM profession. Dr. Huma explained how women still struggle with the gender pay gap and need to break the pink ceiling in order to help break the glass ceiling. She added, “We are teaching our women to become empowered but not teaching our men to live with empowered women”.

From the confidence gap to the existing patriarchal setup and other socio-economic aspects, several factors contribute to gender disparity. She mentioned cost being a major barrier; as a result, only 35% of STEM undergraduates are women.

At Recep Tayyip Erdogan Hospital (RTEH), Muzaffargah, the following distinguished guest speakers were invited to present over zoom: Uzma Mustafa, a certified Trainer, Consultant & Life Coach; Dr. Ayesha Shoaib, Head of Department & Consultant, Family Medicine & Community Health, QF, NST, SMP Campus; and Mrs. Asma Rehmatullah, Islamic Scholar. The event was well attended by over 55 employees, including doctors, nurses, and allied staff.