KARACHI, Feb 14: The Vice-Chancellor of the Dow University of Health Science, Professor Masood Hameed Khan, has said that environmental pollution and water contamination problems prevail in a serious proportion both in the urban and rural areas of the country and need to be addressed.

He was speaking at a news briefing arranged in connection with the forthcoming annual symposium of the university on Wednesday. The symposium with the theme “environmental pollution — a silent killer” will be held from Feb 23 to 26.

Referring to the nature of environmental degradation and its adverse impact on people and other habitat, the vice chancellor said that there was a need to intensify efforts to reduce air pollution and other causes of environmental deprivations. He said that the problems were ultimately threatening public health in the country.

There is considerable increase in the air, water and sound pollution levels in cities, including Karachi, and as such people have to suffer various diseases, including respiratory, typhoid and hepatitis, sometimes leading to deaths, he said and added that the high-level of noise pollution could cause physiological and psychological problems.

He was of the view that the topics of pollution and other environmental hazards should be included in the syllabus right from the primary education to higher and professional education. A comprehensive report of the symposium’s proceedings and recommendations would be passed on to the federal and provincial governments so that the issues could be addressed timely, he said.

The principals of the Dow Sindh medical colleges, Prof Salahuddin Afsar and Prof Tariq Sharafatullah respectively, were also present on the occasion.

Coming on to ethics for doctors, for which a special session will be dedicated during the symposium, Prof Khan said that some of the physicians and medicine practitioners and surgeons used to go on joy trips and shopping arranged abroad by pharmaceutical companies, which he condemned, as the financial implications of such visits ultimately overburdened the patients.

Giving details of the proposed symposium, the chairman of its organising committee, Prof M Zaman Shaikh, said that as many as 18 pre-symposium workshops would be conducted by eminent faculty members in various disciplines of health, which commenced on Wednesday.

He said that Sindh Health Minister Syed Sardar Ahmed would be the chief guest at the inaugural ceremony of the symposium on Feb 23.

The four-day moot is being attended by at least seven reputed speakers from abroad, including Prof. Paul Thornally and Prof Aftab Anwer from United Kingdom, Dr Karen Slama from France, Dr Anil Arora, Dr Suntan Pardhan and Dr Hiralal Mahesh from India and Dr Yasmeen Ruhge from the US.

Sessions on postgraduate education and basic science has also been planned at the SMC. Parallel sessions are scheduled to be held at the DMC, SMC and Lyari General Hospital, which is attached to the DUHS.