Guest Column

People becoming unaccounted for as a direct result of, or in connection with armed conflicts and other situations of violence is unfortunately, a common phenomenon throughout the world. The continuous emotional struggle endured by families of missing persons is an incomparable suffering. Absence of credible answers on the fate and whereabouts of their missing relatives drives the families to search relentlessly for meaning and for: knowledge of the exact circumstances of the disappearance; Fami

You look better today,” I said as I absentmindedly began writing her prescription. She was one of my regular patients—a gentle old lady who had been coming to my clinic for years. Her main complaint had always been her lack of appetite. Each time she mentioned it, I reassured her that it was likely due to her chronic lung condition. I never thought to ask beyond the surface, never questioned what lay beneath this persistent symptom. Then, one day, she quietly revealed something that shook me.