Women Physicians of APPNA or WAPPNA is an organization formed by women physician members of APPNA to empower women and children. WAPPNA ( Women Physicians of APPNA ) was formally approved as an auxiliary organization of APPNA with its unique charter, mission statement, constitution and bylaws, and Executive Council. This took place in the Spring meeting of APPNA in 2008 in Dallas. It is a secular organization that opens its doors to all women physicians of Pakistani descent, regardless of color, religion, and other orientations. WAPPNA has its tax ID # and tax-exempt status. The main purpose of this organization is as follows:

1. Provide a forum for North American women physicians of Pakistani descent to network professionally and socially.
2. Identify, initiate, and carry out projects for women and children’s social and economic betterment in Pakistan and North America.
3. Hold meetings coinciding with the APPNA meetings to discuss the various social, medical, and economic issues women and children face worldwide.

Wappna was founded by women physicians who are lifetime members of Appna. The founding members were invariably asked about the need for establishing Wappna when Appna had already been founded many years ago. The answer was that Appna has a long list of achievements, and they have done incredible work over the years. Wappna wanted to focus mostly on underserved women and children as our focus was narrow. As a new entity, we wanted to do what we aimed to achieve with limited resources. Initially, Wappna faced a fair amount of pushback and needed to get the needed recognition. But now, it is recognized as a viable entity with which people want to align. Wappna is here to help anybody and everybody within our limitations. The founding members are Naheed Chaudhry, Sarwat Iqbal, Humeraa Qamar, and Shaheen Mian. We banded together to form Wappna as we realized our goals and aspirations were similar. We continued to form the Executive Committee and run the organization’s day-to-day functioning. As we added more members, we were able to assign responsibility accordingly. We were pleasantly surprised to see that many members share the same passion for providing care to the needy and, at the same time, developing women’s empowerment. We will work towards getting an appropriate representation of women physicians in leadership roles within Appna. Wappna is a formidable platform; the more members we have, the stronger the organization will get. We invite all women physicians looking to develop their skills in leadership roles and provide philanthropy to join us. We welcome you.