June 04, 2008	Wednesday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 29, 1429

KARACHI, June 3: President of the Pakistan College of Family Physicians Dr Aziz Khan Tank has suggested that the government should sponsor specialised training programmes for family physicians in the country.

Speaking to the media on Tuesday, he said family physicians considered to be the backbone of primary health care system in the world were largely ignored in Pakistan.

“No public sector medical college or university is providing special training to the doctors keen to work as family physicians,” said the senior physician.

Dr Tank, who is also an active member of the Pakistan Medical Association, Karachi chapter, said equal responsibility also rested on relevant professional bodies to arrange continuing medical education programmes for family physicians on a regular basis.

Answering a question, he said that the Pakistan College of Family Physicians in collaboration with different international medical associations did organize symposia and conferences. “We need to have these more frequently to ensure that family physicians based at small towns and remote areas get maximum opportunities to attend these sessions,” said Dr Tank.

He said initiative by the college of family physicians as well as the PMA did not absolve the government of its responsibilities as relevance of family physicians as the first referral could not be ignored.—APP