The Concept of Medical Treatment and Guidelines for Physicians in Islamic Perspective

In fact, good health is the ultimate end of medicine for everyone through medical treatment. Islam does approve necessary measures to sustain good health. Thus its sustenance senses the subjects to avoid undue pains and sufferings. For this purpose medications and medical treatment is measured as a recognized tool in Islamic law. Therefore, this research paper reveals that numerous Muslim scientists worked on different branches of science,  and hence the Muslim physicians execute one of the most complicated “eye surgery” almost six hundred (600) years earlier than the European physicians. Indeed, it is the Muslim scientists who discovered the ‘force of gravity’, ‘blood circulation’, ‘laws of motion’. Factually, they developed the ‘theory of evolution’, ‘differential and integral mathematics’ and many more in the field of science. Consequently, the words of Campbell in this regard are very important to note that: “the European medical system is Arabian not only in origin but also in its structure”, which signify that “Muslim scientists are directly responsible for the European renaissance”. Resultantly, this paper argues that ‘medical treatment is an obligation if one’s life is in danger’ since preservation and protection of life is one of the primary objectives of Shariah. Although, in extraordinary circumstances, seeking medical treatment is highly encouraged in Islam, and an ill person is supposed to pursue medical treatment because Allah almighty has made both the illness and the cure.

Willingness to pay for improved water supply services in Karachi

Karachi, Pakistan's largest cosmopolitan and home to over 21 million people, finds itself unable to fulfill the various public utility needs including basic amenities like water. Access to clean drinking water remains the greatest perceived need of the population (City District Government Karachi, 2007), a deficiency further hampered by the population size of the metropolis. Just three-fifths of the total number of households is connected to the Karachi Water & Sewerage Board (KWSB) supply line, and those connected received daily, only four hours of continuous water supply on average. In order to implement projects that increase water coverage and improve water supply services in a sustainable way, implementation of a cost recovery system is necessary, and for that it is important to examine willingness to pay of the beneficiaries of improved water supply. The objective of this study is to examine the determinants of the willingness to pay (WTP) of water consumers and to find out whether it is possible to increase tariffs. This study uses a contingent valuation method to estimate the mean willingness to pay using double bound dichotomous choice bidding. The total number of households surveyed through in-person interviews is 400. The households were randomly selected from Block 4 and Block 7 of Gulshan-e-Iqbal Town in Karachi. Estimation using interval data model reveal that sampled households expressed their WTP with a mean WTP of Rs. 2244 and Rs. 2080/ month for each model respectively. It also shows income affects the respondent's willingness to pay. The descriptive analysis result reveals that the mean WTP for improved water services is higher than the existing tariff