The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) came into existence after World War II when the Nazi violence perpetrated upon the Jews came to light, the world community realized that the UN Charter was not sufficiently specific to protect human rights. In response, the Declaration was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in Paris on December 10, 1948. General Assembly resolution 217 A (III) as a common standard of achievements for all peoples and all nations. It consists of 30 articles which cover a broad range including social, political, economic and religious rights. Though not legally binding, the UDHR is considered a foundational document in international human right laws. It has inspired the development of 50 human rights instruments around the world including international treaties, national constitutions, and regional human right laws. Whereas Islamic law or Shari’ah, has been used in countries throughout the world for more than 1,400 years and remains the ideal legal system for more than a billion people worldwide. During the reign of the Ottoman Empire, the nations under its rule flourished in such diverse fields of medicine, education, social sciences and arts. While Shari’ah has been examined in great detail, religious scholars and groups for implementation in Islamic countries mostly completed the research. However, by comparing the rulings and methodology of Shari’ah to current systems around the world, it is possible to gain both a better understanding and also provides an alternative current system of laws.

The process of globalization, financial integration, free trade and investment has profoundly transformed the lives of women through out the world. Globalization policies have been preceded by national adjustment proposals, privatization of state enterprises, restructuring of employment policies from secure employment to flexible, temporary work, relaxation of labour laws, etc. which leads to the opening of markets. The world Bank and IMF have created an unjust packet of neo-liberal policies called Structural Adjustment Policies (SAP) and caused enormous difficulties for poor nations. Furthermore, behind the whole process of globalization unscrupulous employers are abusing the basic rights of a predominant young female workforce. This study has been designed to find out the effects of globalization on women’s health and their lives and show the human cost of the globalization experiment in Pakistan.

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111 Background: The prognosis of malignant peritoneal mesothelioma (MPM) has improved over the past decade in patients undergoing operative extirpation and intraperitoneal chemotherapy (IC). This study investigates the time from diagnosis to treatment intervention in premenopausal women and its impact on fertility and childbearing options. Methods: A retrospective analysis of 195 patients diagnosed with peritoneal mesothelioma between 1995 and 2015. Patients with unresectable or bicavity disease were not excluded. Kaplan-Meier curves and univariate cox proportional hazards model were used to estimate survival and significant treatment and prognosis factors. Results: The median survival time of all peritoneal mesothelioma patients (n = 195) was 3.21 years with (95% CI: 2.38- 5.53), with median follow-up of 3.44 years (SD = 3.4, minimum = 0.014 and maximum = 16.752) years from first operation. Patient set included 111 men (57%) and 84 women (43.1%) with female sex having favorable survival [HR: 0.442 95% CI: 0.296-0.659), p < 0.001] of 110.1 months with (95% CI: lower bond: 48.3). Of these women, their mean age at diagnosis was 52 years, (SD = 14.5, minimum = 14.7 – maximum = 79.9), with a mean time of 8.20 months from diagnosis to the start of treatment (SD = 18.6, minimum = 0 and maximum = 128.6 months). Overall survival of premenopausal women (N = 23) during follow-up was 72.2% (SE = 27.8%). Mean age at time of diagnosis was 34.7 years, (SD = 9.26, minimum = 14.7, maximum = 48.1), with a mean time of 10.6 months from diagnosis to treatment (SD = 17.9, minimum = 0.63, maximum = 86.7). Of the 195 patients who received a full treatment course, 66 (33.8% CI: 95%) were still alive at the median follow-up, of those alive 37 are female: 7 are premenopausal and have presented with gynecological symptoms, and 17 are premenopausal and have presented with abdominal discomfort. Conclusions: This data suggests that women preparing for treatment of MPM should not be precluded from exploring fertility options. With a mean time of 10.6 months from diagnosis to treatment, it is possible for premenopausal women to take advantage of fertility preservation before starting treatment.

The recent advances in the field of medical sciences have allowed the scientists to control the processes of life and death. These processes not only can prolong the human life by machines but doctors and scientists can also initiate the process of human life: artificial insemination, cloning, in vitro fertilization (IVF), cyropreservation of sperm, oocytes, embryos, embryo transfer (ET), hormone treatment, surrogacy, testicular sperm extraction (TESE) and gamete intra fallopian transfer (GIFT) are well known examples. By far the most common of these is IVF. As a result of these scientific innovation couples have become statistics and children have become scientific experiments. Technological advancement in biology not only raises the question of good or bad technology or good or bad effects of technology but it lead us to the question whether all works of science and technology are beneficial or otherwise for the humankind. Since the birth of Louis Brown in 1978 – the period related to the first ‘test tube baby’ in the UK, many ethical issues regarding reproductive technologies (RT) and their potential impacts on humanity at large have been raised. In the light of extraordinary medical and ethical consequences that the RT has placed on humanity in the developed world, a discussion has been made in the paper to identify and describe the reproductive technology: In Vitro Fertilization (IVF). This paper also explores the difficulties that Muslim countries like Pakistan could face when actual progression of reproductive technologies gets under way.