LARKANA: Participants of a three-day symposium have underlined the need of encouraging research activities in the vast field of medical science.

On the closing day on Sunday of the symposium held at Shaheed Mohtrma Benazir Bhutto Medical University (SMBBMU), they were of the view that the government should inject handsome amount of funds to enrich the ongoing research and encourage researchers so as to find out indigenous treatments of diseases.

SMBBMU Registrar Prof Sikandar Mughal said: “We lag behind in doing research in the field of quantum physics, bio-technology and computer science while the developed countries around the globe do not only put in efforts, but also finance the research.”

He said universities were meant for conducting research while the colleges were just to educate the people. It was a great opportunity for SMBBMU Larkana to focus on doing research to evolve stra­tegy to effectively fight against malaria, hepatitis, ty­­p­­hoid, leishmaniasis and other diseases which had sev­erely affected Sindh, he said.

“Currently we don’t have separate funds for research and can only spend 25 per cent of the self-finance money, which is meager,” he said.

Prof Zaman Shaikh form Sir Syed University Karachi regretted that doctors capacity of diagnosing diseases was gradually decreasing and they most of the time depended on investigations and tests, which, according to him, was a burden on patients.

He stressed the need of enhancing the capability of diagnosing diseases, as in previous days, they (doctors) had relied less on tests. He was of the view that universities should focus of research for Ph.D instead of just awarding diplomas.

Chandka Medical College Principal Prof Saifullah Jamro calling research a fundamental factor, said it (research) should be patient-oriented. He said universities should concentrate on encouraging research so as to maximally benefit patients. He urged the post-graduate students to participate in such activities.

Prof Sikandar Shaikh, former SMBBMU vice chancellor, said it was time to move along with the world in the field of research. He said trend of investigations was on the rise and ‘we have to put in efforts to enhance the research’.

Supporting the panellists’ idea of injecting huge funds in the research sector of medical sciences, he stressed for keeping eye on new fields in medical sciences.

He called for regularly holding symposiums which provide chances to the participants to not only exchange ideas, research, techniques and applying modern methodologies but also to learn more to benefit the patients with modern approaches.

Prof Ghulam Qadir Kaheri, Prof Rafia Balouch, Prof Hakim Ali Abro and Prof Ghulam Murtaza Pathan in their speeches demanded adequate funds for research by the government.

Published in Dawn, December 22th, 2014