RAWALPINDI: Chairman Higher Education Commission (HEC) Dr Mukhtar Ahmed here on Friday underlined the need for focusing on those health topics for research purposes which related to ailments that are becoming more harmful than cancer and hepatitis.

He was speaking at the inaugural day of the two-day third ‘International scientific conference’ of the Rawalpindi Medical College (RMC) at the Holy Family Hospital.

Acting Vice Chancellor of the University of Health Sciences Prof Junaid Sarfraz, Chairman Board of Governors (BoG) RMC and Allied Hospitals Dr Mohammad Aslam, Principal RMC Prof Dr Mohammad Ummar, Prof Dr Musaddaq Khan, Prof Farid Aslam Minhas, Prof Rai Mohammad Asghar, foreign faculty members and doctors attended the ceremony.

The theme of the scientific conference is “Expanding the horizon of medical education: role of public sector institutions.”

The HEC chairman appreciated the research work of the RMC students and said the commission would provide all possible support to promote research initiatives of the medical graduates.

Prof Junaid Sarfraz emphasised the need for promoting medical research besides upgrading the standard of research work to enable young graduates to achieve excellence in various research disciplines.

Dr Mohammad Aslam said members of the BoG were providing all possible support to upgrade the infrastructure and services of the RMC and allied hospitals to provide an enabling environment of quality medical education and research persuades.

The RMC principal briefed the participants about the achievement of the last four years and said millions of rupees had been spent on civil work, purchase of latest medical equipment and improving the working environment for medical practitioners.

He said 73 pre-conference workshops were held in allied hospitals of RMC to update the knowledge and experience of the postgraduate practitioners and medical students.

Prof Farid Minhas said public sector institutions in Pakistan were accredited to produce the best doctors and medical professionals all over the world.

Published in Dawn, March 25th, 2017