Marham Bano

June 18, 2016

Marham Bano

In times of decline in our mental or physical health, we all seek good medical care. Determining what kind of doctor you need or would be best becomes a tiring and lengthy process and so you think of relying on your friend’s or relative’s suggestions and guidance. Their advice, however sincere, is based on their limited knowledge, which sometimes helps but mostly doesn’t. There are also quacks and traditionals sitting in the market. This makes the search very difficult and we are at the mercy of friends' or relatives' opinions.

Aware of these limitations and concerns, "Marham" a virtual platform for people, has been created. It connects doctors and patients directly leaving no room for doubts. Marham, literally, brings the best doctors of our city on our finger tips.

There was a time when I suffered hypertension. I became a victim of bullying and was labeled as a bipolar and schizophrenic. To find out if something was actually wrong with me or not I wanted to see a psychiatrist. I couldn’t trust anyone anymore with my feelings and with each passing day I was wallowing in self pity and I wanted to put an end to it.

But how could I contact a good psychiatrist or psychologist in my vicinity? I googled it and got a few numbers but none of them responded, so I turned to a friend and too ashamed to open up I decide to lie for the information and said, "Hey, there's a relative of mine suffering from bipolar disorder and wants to see a good psychiatrist can you help?" Even that didn't work out.

That day I felt the dire need of someone who could come and help me out, who could actually guide me to the right person so I could find relief. Alhamdulillah I managed to find someone and that phase is over. But it always kept alarming my mind that there could be many who are suffering and may never be fortunate enough to find help as I did. The idea of someone suffering somewhere without proper assistance, started haunting me.

Then a few months ago I came across a friend's photo on Instagram (@clickaey) with a caption that said:

زندگی میں سب اچھا ہے اور پھر کیا ہوا کہ سب ہل گیا، بیماری آئی اور کچھ سمجھ نہ آیا، کیا کریں کہاں جائیں، کس سے پوچھیں؟ جہاں گئے دھکے ملے یا دھوکے، لٹا دیا یا لیٹ گئے۔ کب تک ہوتا رہے گا ایسا؟ میرے ساتھ ہوگیا تو کیا سب کے ساتھ ہوگا؟ کیوں نہ کوئی ایسی جگہ ہو جہاں سب بتائیں، سب بولیں، خود نہ بچ پائے پر دوسروں کو بچا لیں اور رکھ دیں مرہم ان کے زخموں پر۔۔ ایسی ہی اک جگہ "مرہم" ہے، جہاں دوسرے بیماروں کو دھوکے اور دھکے کھانے سے بچایا جاسکتا ہے، میں تو اس کا حصہ بن گیا ہوں لیکن انتظار ہے کہ مجھ جیسے دوسرے بھی اس کا حصہ بنیں اور معاشرے کو سدھار دیں۔

“Life is going smooth and then what happens, everything is shaken, an illness hits you and you don’t understand anything, what to do? Where to go? Who to ask? Wherever you went you were pushed or deceived, you lied down or asked to be laid. For how long will this carry on? If this has happened to me so it will happen to everyone? Why shouldn’t there be a place where we can tell everything, express it all, we couldn’t save ourselves but try saving others and put a “Marham’ (aid) on their wounds – “Marham” is one such place, where we can save other’s from the hassle of being pushed and deceived. I have become a part of it already but I am waiting for others to become a part of it too and save the society.”

I was ecstatic; I instantly hopped over to the Instagram and twitter accounts of @marhampk to find out more about it. I was overwhelmed to see people working on this mission with dedication and that too regardless of the monetary gains. From the founders to the visual designers everyone was working for free.

The idea was conceived when the co-found had to seek an appointment with a physician for his father but he was constraint to do so due to paucity of time in view of his heavy official engagements.

Adverting to his career and successes in the past, he realised that he has sacrificed the need of his family in establishing and finding his own identity and recognition. this whole things lead to the extreme point where he left his job and thought of doing something for his own family and to set an example in terms of source of convenience for other in similar situations.

In his quest for the solution he found a number of people with the similar mindset, willing to create a platform that could revolutionize the healthcare industry in Pakistan. Aur isi tarhan, "Log miltay gaye, karwaa’n banta gaya".

Untiring efforts on the ends of design and data collection, the final result was the Marham App, available for the web, iOs and Android. Via this application, users can:

⦁ Locate nearby doctors relevant to a specific disease or specialty

⦁ Discuss confusions and health- related issues with the Marham community on Facebook

⦁ Share the information of doctors with friends or family through SMS, Whatsapp or social networks

⦁ Help refine the database by requesting to add new data or reporting if any doctor's information is incorrect

Marham is a platform for both the doctors and the common people to exchange views.

Ehsan says “The struggle of data collection was real, people were afraid that we might be from the tax department and we’d take their information for some reporting. Convincing them was a bigger challenge but we somehow managed to do it.”

The journey wasn’t too smooth. Another obstacle in their path was receiving incomplete details of doctors from the hospitals’ end that lengthened the verification process, which was only made possible by the team’s earnest efforts.

“Currently, we are working on a lot more much-needed features which involve hospital services, labs for testing, rate comparison, symptom checker, blood donation and more; we need all the support we can get.” – Ehsan Imam, Co-Founder Marham.

Marham is empowering people by enabling them to make informed health decisions. It is a community based initiative and your experiences, whether good or bad, can help someone in pain. We use technology to make your experiences add to the collective memory of the Marham community and enable you to save lives.

If you stand with Marham and believe in the movement, please download the application and help us digitally revolutionize healthcare in Pakistan. Remember, your experiences can help save lives.