KARACHI, Dec 14: Speakers at a forum on Friday urged the doctor community to keep itself above petty gains and come up with determination to put Pakistan’s medicines on the map of the world.

They were of the view that despite being capable of making a difference, Pakistani doctors lacked the required vision and, as such, they were generally considered as callous fellows and indifferent observers.

Among the speakers were senior doctors and academicians who were expressing their views at the inaugural session of the sixth symposium of Hamdard College of Medicine and Dentistry. It was chaired by Prof Masood Hameed Khan, Vice-Chancellor of the Dow University of Health Sciences. Prof S. M. Rab, a former provincial health minister and senior health practitioner, delivered Hakim Mohammad Said memorial lecture on “Future of Health Care in Pakistan”.

The three-day symposium on the theme of “Health Challenges in the modern era”, comprised 20 sessions covering topics like medicine, surgery, oncology, obstetrics & gynaecology, Hepatitis B & C, HIV, stress, osteoporosis, diabetes, obesity, aging, trauma, epidemics and environmental health. A number of foreign speakers, including those from the World Health Organisation, are also expected to present papers.

President of the Hamdard Foundation Pakistan, Sadia Rashid, said that the proceedings of the symposium would surely help the participants identify some sensitive but significant issues of medicines in Pakistan.

In his special lecture, Prof Rab said that Pakistan started in 1947 with three medical colleges and 362 MBBS doctors from among a population of 60 million. “Today, we have 62 medical colleges, 10 medical universities and 112,000 medical graduates registered with the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council,” he said.

Prof Masood Hameed Khan said: “We need an army of trained manpower, doctors, nurses and technical hands to be able to change the existing medical history of the country.”