25 April 2004	Sunday	04 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1425

KARACHI, April 24: The vice-chancellor of the Dow University of Health Sciences, Prof Masood Hameed, on Saturday urged the medical practitioners and institutions to follow medical ethics for the uplift of their profession , as well as to benefit patients.

Speaking at the inaugural session of 19th annual symposium of Pakistan Society of Physicians, held on "comprehensive approach to patient care," at the Convention Centre of Liaquat National Hospital, he defined the medical ethics as a code of behavior considered correct by medical practitioners in the good faith for both patients and the profession.

From the rising complaints against medical practitioners and hospitals, one can imagine the intensity of the problem being faced today, he said, adding there should be continuous training of the professionls regarding good behavior.

Prof Hameed said that medical profession had always followed a body of ethical principles, developed primarily for the benefit of the patients, and as a professional, a physician must recognize his or her responsibility towards patients first and foremost, as well as to society, to his colleagues and to himself.

He also urged medical professionals to have practical and honest opinions on social-policy issues, such as abortion, besides on medical decision-making in sensitive cases, court-initiated medical treatments in criminal cases, torture, clinical investigation and the use of placebo controls in clinical trials.

PSP General Secretary Dr Jawed Usman briefed about the activities of the society and told that its new chapter had been established in Larkana.

PSP President Dr Moinuddin, in his speech, emphasized the need to review the charter of society to strengthen it.

SESSIONS: Medical experts at the PSP symposium, in their lectures stressed adoption of healthy lifestyle by individuals for prevention of hypertension, which was a major risk factor in cardiovascular morbidity and mortality.

Delivering his paper on "first line treatment options in hypertension," Prof Mohammad Ishaq of the National Institute of Cardiovascular Disease (NICVD) said that major lifestyle modifications had produced lower blood pressure, including weight reduction in those who were overweight or obese. He also suggested physical activity and moderation in alcohol consumption to avoid hypertension. Lifestyle modifications decreased blood pressure, enhanced anti-hypertensive drug efficacy and decreased cardiovascular risk, he added.

Dr Khurram Shahi, speaking on "Diabetic dyslipidmia and its management," said that evidence from a variety of sources had shown that patients with type-2 diabetes were at increased risk of morbidity and mortality from CAD.

Prof Zaman Sheikh, reading his paper on "Reducing the risk of cardiovascular complications of type-2 diabetes," said that diabetes mellitus represented a major public health problem worldwide and its prevalence was high and was increasing at an alarming rate.

Dr Abubakr Shaikh of AKU Hospital, talked on "Emerging role of combination-based therapies" and said that monotherapy of hypertension was often ineffective, since it controlled approximately half of the blood pressure of hypertensive patients and combination therapy of two or more drugs was often necessary for lowering blood pressure.

Dr Syed Imran Ahmed of Ziauddin Medical University spoke on "Optimizing Heart Failure Outcomes: Evidence from recent ARB trials."

Dr Fahimul Hasan, Dr Shaukat Ali, Dr Syed Sharaf Ali Shah,Dr Nasar Rasheed Dar and Dr Khawar Kazmi also spoke. -PPI