Marlene Newell

Subject: FW: [Fwd: Farewell Message from APPNA President 2007]

FAREWELL MESSAGE FROM APPNA PRESIDENT 2007

January 2, 2008
Dear Nadeem A Kazi,
Happy New Year!
It seems like yesterday when the membership of APPNA elected and endorsed me with overwhelming support. I
thank you for your immense trust in my leadership. The year 2007 was very enthralling. 2007 was designated as a
year of education. APPNA MERIT and APPNA Sukoon were launched which will help to promote health care in
Pakistan; free tutoring program was launched; leadership and civil right seminars were arranged which help us to
streamline our efforts to address membership issues in USA.
To run our organization smoothly, several policies and procedures for our committees are now in place. After
approval by the council and BOT, we have bought a new central office building adjacent to the existing building.
The new building was inaugurated on December 16th 2007. This will serve as an APPNA Center to arrange
leadership seminars, free clinic, APPNA archive, etc. This year we began using a blast email system to
communicate with our members frequently and have saved a substantial amount of mailing expenses. This year
we patent/trade mark our organization and its logo with federal registration and now no one can use or abuse
APPNA.
The Police Hospital in Abbotabad was inaugurated on October 8th 2007 and Girls School in Kathai was
inaugurated on December 23rd 2007. Cytogenic Lab at National Institute of Childrens Health in Karachi was
inaugurated on December 27th 2007, and eight primary schools were started by APPNA Pakistan in interior Sindh.
This year Bone Marrow Registry for South-East Asians, breast cancer awareness program, Hepatitis B and C
program, and Karachi Street Children project has been launched. APPNA donated ten thousand dollars to
Bangladesh Medical Association for flood relief, $15,000 to LRBT, $15,000 for Pakistan flood relief. Another $7500
was given as a loan to young physicians.
This year our membership reached record high of approximately 3000. The annual meeting was attended by a
record number, and 3020 attended the annual banquet. The annual meeting revolved around education, which
included youth debates, discussion on democracy and justice, and speeches from Brother Hamza Yousuf and
Congressman Al Green.
APPNA members are facing civil right issues whether the way they were treated at the airports or like stories of Dr.
Nadeem Hassan. He who was given appropriate papers permitting him to leave for Hajj and on return was not
allowed US entry due to his affiliation with the Jamat e Tabliq. Or take the example of Dr. Athar Rana who was
initially tried on terrorism charges. When nothing was found, he was subsequently charged with over-billing
Medicare for $14000 over a 7 year period. Such accounts prompted me to form a coalition with other organizations
who are actively fighting for the civil rights of Muslims in USA. This year, council approved to contribute $100,000
to Muslim Advocates to fight for APPNA members rights in USA and advise us case by case if our members face
any such predicament. We are working with Muslim Public Action Committee (MPAC) and ISPU. Recently
psychiatrist from APPNA and ED of MPAC met Dept of Defense to discuss the psychological need of the prisoners
in Guantanomo Bay.
The re-election of President-elect 2006 was tied. This put APPNA in a very difficult situation. The only option, per
our constitution, was to have another election which most of our members opposed and expressed their feelings
through emails and phone calls. I took the initiative to resolve this matter, requesting the candidates for their help in
getting out of this quandary. I appreciate and admire Dr. Zeelaf Munirs decision to withdraw her candidacy for the
President-2008 in favor of Dr. Mahmood Alam in the larger interest of the organization. I salute her exemplary
leadership and grace for saving the Association from further divisiveness.

1/11/2008

This year we have learnt a lot from the mistakes of the past, and I have initiated many corrective actions including
membership verification. An election reform committee was appointed and a detailed report has been presented to
the Council for discussion and, God willing, by early next year these reforms will be approved and implemented. Dr.
Javed Akhtar is elected as BOT member for 2008.
The winter meeting was started on December 26th with the launching of APPNA Sukoon in Karachi and on
December 27th with the CME. However, due to the murder of Benazir Bhutto, a deplorable act of terrorism, I
cancelled the rest of the meeting. It was a sad day for Pakistan when the democracy once again was crushed by
violence and hopes of the people of Pakistan are robbed. I pray that God gives the people of Pakistan courage to
continue to strive for democracy and strength to deal with the atrocity which has affected the whole nation.
My full report will be published in our winter journal. Once again, thank you for your support and trust. I hope I met
your expectations.
Nadeem Kazi, MD
President APPNA 2007

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1/11/2008