MUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan - The needs were urgent: A field hospital wanted seven respirators. A health center was begging for anesthesiology machines. Tetanus shots were in short supply.
Cardiologist Abdul Rashid Piracha quickly put out the word over the phone and the Internet. Within a day he had everything he asked for, simply by tapping into a vast network of Pakistani-American doctors - 10,000 strong.
Together, they have raised tens of millions of dollars in donations and medical supplies, and many have come personally to help South Asia's quake victims.
For all of them, there was a simple reason why. "This is close to the heart," says Piracha, 65, a native of Quetta who now lives in Princeton, W.Va.
Piracha heads the Association of Pakistani Physicians of North America, which is working with the Islamic Medical Association of North America to coordinate a relief effort with local physicians. So far, they have brought in about 70 doctors from the United States and Canada.
U.S. BUSINESS LEADERS STEP UP: In Washington, the Bush administration announced that five leading U.S. businessmen had agreed to launch a nationwide effort to encourage private donations for relief and reconstruction in the quake zone. The private-sector effort would complement the U.S. government aid effort, President Bush said in a statement.
The U.S. business leaders who agreed to launch the fund-raising effort are Jeff Immelt, chairman and CEO of General Electric; Hank McKinnell Jr., chairman and CEO of Pfizer Inc.; Sandy Weill, chairman of Citigroup Inc.; Anne Mulcahy, chairman and CEO of Xerox Corp.; and Jim Kelly, former chairman and CEO of United Parcel Service of America Inc.
TETANUS DEATHS REPORTED: Fears of disease among South Asia's quake survivors grew Thursday after health officials said 22 people had died from tetanus. Doctors were also bracing for a spike in pneumonia, bronchitis and other diseases with the coming Himalayan winter.
