LARKANA, Oct 9: The Chandka Medical College will be soon elevated to the status of a medical university after affiliating the Sukkur Medical College and the People's Medical College with it.

This was stated by the Sindh secretary for health while inaugurating a two-day fifth symposium on hepatitis here on Friday.

He urged doctors of the CMC hospital to work hard and wait for an appropriate time to come to hear the announcement about Sindh's biggest public sector hospital.

He said no doubt the flow of patients at the CMC hospital had surmounted than that of the LMC and the DMC but we must consider the age of the two big institutions.

Dwelling on the theme of the symposium, he said hepatitis was a national challenge and its control was impossible without research.

"Research in the medical field should continue as it opens new windows of learning" he said.

The hepatitis B and C gradually increased globally and at present they had five per cent prevalence in Pakistan, he said.

The secretary said that vaccine against hepatitis B had already been included in the Expanded Programme of Immunization and like polio we could overcome it.

He said that within week's time 150 doctors would be promoted from grade 17 to 18 followed by the promotion of 400 more doctors from grade 18 to 19 within the next two weeks.

He said promotions from assistant professor to associate and onward would also be made soon to facilitate doctors.

CMC principal Prof Noor Ahmed Channo said the institution was running with just eight professors against the sanctioned posts of 20 professors while the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council's mandatory requirement was 34 professors per medical college.

At the Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences, 31 professors are working. He said the Higher Education Commission had ignored the CMC while universities had been fully funded.