# Shershah Syed

Shershah Syed (born 1953) is a Pakistani physician and surgeon, known for his work in obstetrics and maternal health. He was involved in providing emergency medical assistance to victims of the 2010 Pakistan floods. He was the president of the Society of Obstetricians & Gynecologists of Pakistan from 2007 to 2010, He is the current president of the International Society of Fistula Surgeons (ISOFS) and also the Pakistan National Forum on Women's Health (PNFWH).

## Career

After MBBS from Dow Medical College, he moved to the UK and trained and worked in Ireland to become an obstetrician and gynecologist. He attained an MRCOG before returning to Pakistan where he started working for the Government of Sindh and was posted as assistant professor at Dow Medical College.
He subsequently joined Sobhraj Maternity Hospital as MS. After a short stint at the Nawabshah Medical College, he joined the Qatar Hospital in Orangi Town.
Shershah has worked for the Pakistan Medical Association, Pakistan Medical Dental Council, Society of Obstetrician and Gynecologists Pakistan (SOGP), Amnesty International, and the International Society of Fistula Surgeons (ISOFS).
In 2012, his book, Vision: Not Just a Dream, was reviewed by DAWN. Two years later, in 2014, a biography about him was published in Sindhi language.

## Fellowship and awards

RCOG traveling award to work at FISTULA Hospital, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 1994
RCOG Menopause Award 1996 to attend a meeting in London and to work with Dr. John Studd's menopause clinic
Clinton Global Initiative guest invited by President Clinton in New York in November 2009
FIGO (Federation of Obstetrica Gynaecologica) Distinguish Community Obstetrician award received in 2003 at Santiago Chile.
Pride of Karachi Award by K-Electric in 2014
Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Award 2012 for the treatment of genital tract fistula and rehabilitation of fistula victims
Nomination among 100 most inspiring individuals delivering for girls and women by Women Deliver in 2011

## Humanitarian / Philanthropic Activities

After receiving training in the treatment of infertility, on his return to Pakistan he was overwhelmed seeing the plight of women in the country. For the first time in his practice he encountered pregnant women dying in great numbers due to avoidable causes and noticed that more than six hundred thousand women were having complications because of pregnancy, like Fistula. This depressed him changed his entire concept of practice and he lost interest in infertility and started working to prevent maternal death and suffering of women. He also realized that young girls were also suffering badly and they were forcefully married when they are merely children. Girls were being murdered by their family members on the name of honor killing. He started working against violence against women with UNICEF and UNFPA.
Realizing that the maternal death rate cannot be decreased without providing care to pregnant women and that will be only possible by training of midwives, with the help of UNICEF he established a number of new schools of midwifery in different parts of country.

### Creating a Great Resource for Midwifery

Realizing that no books on midwifery were available in the vernacular which seriously hampered teaching, in collaboration with a group of Journalists in Karachi Dr. Shershah started translating midwifery books in to Urdu and Sindhi. In record time 13 different books, averaging over 400 pages each on midwifery and nursing were translated from English to Urdu and Sindhi which was a great achievement, thus creating a great resource available for teaching in the local languages. A task of this dimension is usually achieved through Government support; however this was conducted by merely a handful of friends and family. Results are already showing that these large number of trained midwives will play a vital role in the prevention of maternal morbidity, mortality and prevention of fistula.