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Ministries differ on bird flu tests
The ministries of health and agriculture have been contradicting each other over the results of tests carried out on samples taken from various poultry farms in Charsadda and Abbottabad, from where the presence of a mild type of bird flu was reported recently.
According to the federal health minister, Mohammad Nasir Khan, samples were sent abroad and results would be available shortly. He claimed that local tests indicated the presence of H5 type of the virus but the presence of the virulent N1 strain was denied by him.
The ministry of food, agriculture and livestock, on the other hand, claimed that the samples had not been sent abroad yet. But the ministry had issued a no-objection certificate for sending the samples to the UK, according to the ministry’s animal husbandry commissioner Dr Mohammad Afzal.
He said: “As far as I know, it is the duty of our ministry to send the samples abroad because they were from birds and not humans.” He added that the tests carried out locally had so far not confirmed the presence of H5 virus in the samples.
Meanwhile, an integrated national communication plan for prevention and control of bird flu was finalised last week in consultation with the representatives of the World Health Organisation, Unicef, the ministries of food, agriculture and livestock and health.
Schools and birds
The Sindh health department has asked schools and hospitals throughout the province to refrain from keeping chickens, birds and ducks on their premises in view of the possible outbreak of bird flu.
A senior official of the department said some hospitals had already been informed of the hazards of keeping the birds at public places. As a precautionary measure against the spread of avian influenza, letters would be sent to the provincial education and health departments and circulars would be issued, prohibiting the housing of birds on such premises for the time being, added the official.
Salinity, water-logging
Scientists recently expressed concern over the shortage of water and the threat posed by rising water-logging and salinity in Sindh. They also underscored the need for an optimum and judicious use of water.
Speaking at a seminar entitled “Judicious use of water for agricultural purposes” — organized by the Sindh Agriculture University, Tandojam — they said there was a shortage of water in Nawabshah, Badin, Tando Mohammad Khan and Tharparkar.
The vice-chancellor of the university, Dr Bashir Ahmad Shaikh, who presided over the seminar, observed that injudicious distribution of water was causing huge losses. He blamed the “feudal lords” for aggravating the already grim situation by taking more water than their share.
He added that corruption was rampant in the irrigation department and proposed that distribution of water should be handed over to the agriculture department.
Cooperation with China
Pakistan and China are likely to adopt an energy plan soon under the bilateral framework agreement which was signed during President Gen Pervez Musharraf’s visit to Beijing recently. The agreement includes proposals about the development of nuclear-based energy resources.
Collaboration between the two countries will be in line with the Chinese support which is being extended to Pakistan to develop the Chashma Nuclear Power Plant. Sources said Pakistan and China would hold a high-level forum in Islamabad shortly to work out a strategy in this regard. The strategy will be implemented in the next five years.
The proposal for holding the forum was made by President Musharraf during official-level talks with his Chinese counterpart. Accepting the proposal, the Chinese leaders agreed to encourage some companies to interact with Pakistani organisations and departments to help promote a mutually beneficial partnership in the energy sector.
Industry-academia link
The minister for information technology, Awais Ahmad Khan Leghari, recently called for strengthening links between the industry and academia in order to pave the way for the production of top quality human resource which formed the core of a knowledge-based economy.
“We no longer live in an industrial age. This is the information age and countries that do not build a knowledge-based economy will fail to make much headway,” the minister said while speaking at a forum for young entrepreneurs and innovators, organized by the Quaid-i-Azam University in collaboration with Unesco.
The minister added that no country could afford to ignore human resource. Everything now revolves around people and if their potential could be harnessed well, nobody could stop them from attaining a position of eminence. — Agencies
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