Patients’ Aid Fight Against Breast Cancer 

Imagine waking up one morning to a lump. Fear grips you. A thousand questions race through your mind: What will the tests cost? Who will pay for surgery? Can I even afford medicines? For many in Karachi’s marginalised areas: Korangi, Lyari, interior Sindh, Punjab, Balochistan, KPK, these are not hypothetical fears. They are everyday realities.

Breast cancer, though treatable when caught early, becomes a death sentence when diagnostic tools are out of reach, when treatment costs are beyond reach, when survivors are forced to choose between feeding their children or purchasing life‑saving chemo. Many women with breast cancer in Pakistan delay seeking help because mammograms, biopsies, surgical procedures, chemo, radiotherapy, the cascade of care, demands money they and their families do not have. In public hospitals, there may be long waits. In private ones, impossibly high bills.

Today, Patients’ Aid proudly shares the inspiring success stories of women who received life-saving breast cancer treatment, made possible through the generous support of our donors. These patients were given a second chance at life, thanks to your contributions. If you want to ease the journey of a woman battling breast cancer, consider donating to Patients’ Aid. Your support can save lives.

Syeda Gulshan Ara’s journey was one with overwhelming pain, sleepless nights, tears. Fareeda Bano’s family sold what little they had to try to raise funds for diagnostic scans. Many are denied better outcomes because without radiotherapy the cancer returns.

This is the human cost: young wives, mothers, sisters robbed of their hopes; daughters forced into early widowhood; families crushed under medical bills. In 2025, with medical inflation and economic hardship, the gaps are wider than ever.

Patients’ Aid Brings Hope When It’s Needed Most

But there are those who refuse to watch quietly! 

Since 1990, the Patients’ Aid Foundation has changed this narrative. Their mission: ensure that no patient is denied healthcare because of poverty. Not just stop‑gap aid, but transforming Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) into a centre where world class, advanced care is available free of cost to all, regardless of affordability, religion or ethnicity. 

Patients’ Aid doesn’t just provide medicines, we’ve improved infrastructure, installed cutting-edge equipment, provided trained staff at JPMC and continue to work across dozens of its specialties. The goal is to make diagnostics accessible, treatments possible, and to offer a better hope of survival through the delicate threads of breast cancer.

What Patients’ Aid is Delivering? Free, Advanced, Cancer Treatment at JPMC

Here is what Patients’ Aid has already achieved at JPMC, and what is coming soon:

• Free Radiology & Diagnostics: 3000 patients receive radiological diagnostic care daily free of charge via Patients’ Aid at JPMC including Mammogram, MRI, CT Scan and blood works which are essential for timely diagnosis of Breast Cancer
• Cancer Treatment Facilities: JPMC houses an Oncology Department that has been renovated and is continuously being upgraded by Patients’ Aid along with modern Tomotherapy Department offering free OPD, Chemotherapy, highly precise radiation therapy. 
• Breast Radiation Bay (Upcoming): Through partnership with the Edhi Foundation, Patients’ Aid is setting up the “Bilquis & Abdul Sattar Edhi‑Breast Radiation Bay,” with Helix Tomotherapy units to be operated exclusively by women by April 2026. Up to 160 breast cancer patients per day will be treated free there.
• Free PET Scans: Free PET scan / PET‑MR facilities operate at JPMC, otherwise costing approx. Rs 90,000 in private sector.

Stories of Success and Healing

Fareeda Bano, a resident of Korangi in her 60’s, Karachi. A warrior. Diagnosed with breast cancer, she underwent diagnostics, surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy, all at JPMC, completely free. Her courage became possible because donors said “yes” to Patients’ Aid, because equipment existed, because people believed dignity in illness matters.

Syeda Gulshan Ara has been declared cancer free after a brutal one‑year fight. Her days of pain, fear, suffering are over; thanks to free, world‑class care at JPMC, made possible by compassionate people, by Patients’ Aid. Her family’s burden lifted, her hope restored.

These are not isolated cases. Every woman like Fareeda, every survivor like Syeda Gulshan, is a living testament that cancer does not have to be a death sentence for the poor.

Why It Matters Now in 2025, Breast Cancer & Marginalised Areas

• According to pinkribbon, Pakistan sees around 90,000 new breast cancer diagnoses each year. Early detection + treatment drastically improves outcomes, but many cases are found late.
• Women from marginalised areas often lack access to screening (mammograms), late referrals, and cannot afford treatments. Gender, poverty, and geography compound the problem.
• Public perception: cancer = expensive = hopeless. Patients’ Aid works to change that, by making screening, diagnostics and treatment free and accessible.
• In 2025, when medical inflation is high, economic instability is severe, and many cannot afford basic essentials, the work Patients’ Aid is doing is more urgent than ever.

Your Support Can Make Another Miraculous Recovery

The lives of Fareeda Bano, Syeda Gulshan Ara, and countless others depend upon people like you. Your donations, your zakat, your sadaqah, your attention, they are not just charity. They are lifelines. For more success stories visit Patients’ AId Instagram and Facebook pages.

How you can help:

• Support the Cancer treatments by making generous donations. 
• Donate for Diagnostics & Mammograms so that early detection becomes the norm, not the exception.
• Advocate. Share this blog with friends and family. Raise awareness about breast cancer, screenings, rights to free healthcare.

Why Stand With Patients’ Aid in Raising Breast Cancer Awareness?

Together, we can ensure:

• No more woman delays detection for lack of money
• No more patients abandoned because no machine was available
• No more families ruined by treatment costs

Let us not stop here. Let us bring healing, hope, dignity. Because every woman deserves a chance. Donate to Patients’ Aid today and make every suffering life easy. Your donation no matter the amount can help facilitate medical assistance to people who need our help. We can not do it alone, donate generously. 

Join Bike a Cause 2 this October, a community event dedicated to raising awareness and funds for breast cancer treatment. Let’s stand together and give hope to those who need it most.

Click here to learn more about Patients’ Aid Bike A Cause 2 – Fundraiser for Breast Cancer Treatment at JPMC

Donate today and be a part of saving lives.