LAHORE, Dec 7: Federal Health Minister Naseer Khan has called upon the medical professionals to develop a culture of research in the country.

Speaking at the Pakistan Academy of Medical Sciences' (PAMS) convocation 2004 at the King Edward Medical College on Tuesday, the minister said the government would provide adequate funds for the purpose.

He said Pakistani medical researchers needed to get together and act because the whole world was looking towards them. He said the KEMC faculty and students should conduct research to make the institution a glory of the medical education. "The federal government as well as the Punjab government will pump in the money to make it the best research institution in the country," he said.

In a recent international research conference in Mexico, he said, his resolution was passed and the conference agreed that the funding for research purposes in Pakistan should be increased.

He said he learnt from the conference that there was an imbalance in sharing of resources as 10 per cent developed countries were getting 90 per cent resources, while 90 per cent countries were left with the remaining resources.

However, he said the government had this year increased the health budget up to Rs6.1 billion, while the provinces enhanced their health allocations by 30 per cent to 35 per cent. The Punjab government enhanced its budget share for the health sector by cent per cent.

In order to enhance funding for the health sector, he said the government was looking towards the private sector to join hands with the government to promote medical research and healthcare facilities. Public-private partnership is the need of the hour, he said.

The minister said the health policies must focus the prevention from diseases. He also lauded the services of the PAMS in promoting the culture of research. Earlier, PAMS President Prof Dr Mohammad Humayun said the academy had been making important contributions to the medical and bio-medical sciences since its inception three decades ago.

"When PAMS brought the focus of the nation and profession towards medical research, some leaders of our profession declared it was an anomaly or a nuisance," he said.

He said a few even took it as an outright threat to their way of doing things and wanted to nip it in the bud. The academy persisted and overcame all conflicts, external as well as internal, and proved that it was indeed an important entity for the promotion of medicine.

Prof Humayun said the academy also instituted gold medal and bursary for young physicians and biomedical scientists to encourage research activities at lower levels of physician training.

PAMS founder Prof Dr Khalid J. Awan presented academy's history and objectives. The federal health minister presented PAMS' fellowship to Fatima Jinnah Medical College Principal Prof Dr Akbar Chaudhry, Sindh University's Prof Dr Ghulam Ali Qureshi and Prof Dr Azra Khanum.

The PAMS' professorship was awarded to Prof Dr Anwaarul Hasan Gilani; excellence in leadership to Prof Dr Fareeduddin Baqai and his wife, Prof Dr Zahida Baqai, and Blindness Prevention award to Prof Dr Raja Mumtaz Ali Quli Khan.

The PAMS' junior gold medal awards were presented to Dr Syed Abdul Aziz, Dr Aysha Moinuddin, Dr Khalid Khan, Dr Mohammad Wasay, Dr Mohammad Saeed Akhtar, Dr Mohammad Zafar Iqbal Haidery, Dr Zahra Hasan and Dr Tehmeedullah. Punjab Health Minister Dr Tahir Ali Javed and KEMC Principal Prof Dr Mumtaz Hasan were also present on the occasion.