25 December 2004	Saturday	12 Ziqa'ad 1425

PESHAWAR, Dec 24: Public health experts cited poverty, illiteracy, obsolete medical curriculum and lack of political commitment as factors obstructing efforts to improve people's quality of life.

Through proper utilization of human resource planning, development and management, a visible change could be brought in the life-style of the people. The experts were speaking at a workshop held on the fourth day of the Golden Jubilee of the Khyber Medical College here on Friday.

Prof Sultan Mahmood presented said in a paper that through proper education and self-control certain diseases, like diabetes could be controlled. He sketched a slight improvement in health services, adding that in the past treatment was an art, while now it has become a science and predicted that in future this would be focused on that how to prolong human life.

Now the time has come that healthcare system should be replaced by self care system in which the patients could be educated that how to survive against some communicable and none-communicable diseases.

Psychiatrist, Dr Saeed Farooq spoke on mental health issues and said that through a recent research report the number of female patients having depression and anxiety was increasing with each passing day.

He termed the socio-economic complexities sole responsible for mental health issues in this part of the world and said that pre-psychiatric problems could be detected at any level through proper will and determination.

He also claimed that his department has worked out a plan for reducing expenses in treatment of mental health. He said that now schizophrenic patients could get monthly treatment for Rs150 only.

Dr Shabina Raza, presented the Millennium Development Goals adopted in year 2000, already signed by 191 UN members countries, which promised to achieve its set goals by year 2015.

She was of the view that high infant mortality and maternal mortality rates were the main cause of socio-economic complexities in the third world. Dr Abdul Ghafoor said that daily 1,200 children of less than 16 years of age start smoking in the country.

He claimed that according to some unconfirmed reports the number of female smokers in this part of the world was also increasing, adding that 10 per cent of total adults in Pakistan were smokers.

Dr Mohammad Rafiq, Dr Sardarul Mulk, Dr Ziaul Hassan, Dr Mehr Taj Roghani, Dr Abdul Jamil, Dr Sher Mohammad Khan, Dr Fayyaz Ali, Dr Zahoorullah, Dr Jalilur Rehman and others also spoke on the occasion.