ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi said every person needs to get basic knowledge about first aid and CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) to cope with situations in medical emergencies, thus saving lives.

Addressing 12th All Pakistan Camp of Pakistan Girl Guides Association (PGGA) National Headquarters, he said emergency aid on disaster management, first aid and CPR could increase the survival rate of person.

He stressed message of emergency response plan, which was an integral part of girl guiding, needed to be spread at levels of schools and colleges.

President Alvi said by being able to provide basic aid, one could stabilize patient or injured person in case of accidents, earthquakes, or other medical emergencies such as cardiac arrest, until medical services arrive.

He lauded vision of girl guides for positively contributing to society by being ready to offer help to others. He advised them to also play their role in creating awareness among communities on breast cancer, mainstreaming persons with disabilities, environmental protection and physical and mental well-being.

He expressed satisfaction that Pakistan Girl Guides Association was focusing on character-building of girls to become useful members of society. However, he pointed out that number of 140,000 girl guides across country needed to be increased to expand its scope.

Terming women as strong anchor in family stressed that educated and healthy women not only raised good generations but also played vital role in progress of country.

He called upon girl guides to also attain financial empowerment and mentioned that information technology had opened doors of opportunities to earn money through online businesses.

He mentioned that Chief Guide of PGGA, Begum Samina Alvi who remained active in championing women’s empowerment could not attend event due to her twice knee-replacement surgery.

National Commissioner Pakistan Girl Guides Association Maria Maud Sabri said Girl Guide programme laid stress on community development projects by giving girls opportunity to learn about health, nutrition, environment and economic empowerment through different practical activities.

Volunteer movement, she said, was started in 1947 on desire of country’s founder Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah with his sister Fatima Jinnah as its patron.

She mentioned that seven branches of PGGA in four provinces besides others in AJK, GB, and ICT were functioning actively. Around 265 girl guides from four provinces of country, Islamabad, Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan along with senior guides attended event.

Published in The Daily National Courier, October, 26 2023

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