ISLAMABAD, April 13: Pakistan Medical Research Council (PMRC) has developed a diagnostic kit for detection of albumin in the urine of diabetics at a very early stage.

This was disclosed in a meeting of the board of governors of the council held under the chairmanship of Federal Minister for Health Muhammad Nasir Khan here on Thursday.

Albumin in diabetics leads to kidney failure and an its early detection can be preventive in this regard.

The kit has been developed by the PMRC Centre at Shaikh Zayed Hospital and after being checked in UK it is now available for marketing. Besides detecting albumin in micro quantities, the kit will bring down the cost of testing by 75 per cent. The board of governors approved the commercial marketing of the kit.

Stressing the need for indigenous research in the field of medicines, Dr Nasir Khan proposed several measures for strengthening research activities by the council.

The board of governors agreed that pharmaceutical fund could be utilised effectively as Medical Research Fund by redirecting it to the minister of health instead of the finance minister. A committee was set up to formulate the terms of references within four to six weeks.

The meeting also approved establishment of National Cancer Registration Programme with a view to gathering base data on cancer patients in Pakistan.