KARACHI: A number of experts on Tibbe Unani presented their research papers during a two-day symposium which concluded at Hamdard University on Tuesday.
Titled ‘Challenges and opportunities for Unani medicine in the contemporary world’, the event was presided over by Sadia Rashid, the university chancellor at the Bait al-Hikmah auditorium.
During the two-day proceedings, speakers emphasised the need for popularising Eastern medicine, removing bottlenecks in its growth, carrying out research and exploring the many benefits of plants found in the country.
They also called upon the government to acknowledge and support Tibbe Unani and offer jobs to its students as being offered to medical graduates of allopathy.
Speaking at the concluding session, Hakim Rizwan Hafeez Malik, former president of National Council for Tibb, also the chief guest, underscored the need for creating awareness of Tibbe Unani and said that this system of treatment had a treasure of effective medicines, but quacks had spoiled its image.
“Unfortunately, we haven’t done much to improve Unani medicine and the result is before us. If we want to make a difference, we need to take inspiration from Hakim Said’s vision,” he said, adding that Unani medicine was a holistic system of treatment which treated both person’s physical and mental state.
Dr Navaid ul Zafar, a Hamdard (Waqf) trustee, spoke on the need for collaborative efforts to promote Tibbe Unani and urged students and physicians to share their experiments and knowledge of the relevant field.
He also referred to the problems being faced owing to the registration of Unani medicines by Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (Drap) and described the situation as both a challenge and opportunity.
Hakim Abdul Bari, however, believed that Drap’s law would benefit Tibbe Unani as it would strengthen its identity, regulate its medicine and get this system rid of quacks.
Earlier, during the scientific session, Ahsana Dar emphasised the need to have evidence-based medicinal system whereas Dr Sumaira Ishaq spoke on the potential of natural remedies in women’s health issues.
Presenting her paper on drug interaction with herbal medicine, Prof Ghazala Hafeez Rizwani highlighted the curing properties of some commonly found herbs and said they were both medicines and food.
“Our kitchen is a pharmaceutical industry — we should utilise it to keep ourselves healthy and smart,” she observed.
Dr Hakim Asif Iqbal shared findings of his research on treating psoriasis with natural products and said that while no complete cure had so far been discovered for the disease, Tibbe Unani offered some treatment.
Psychologist Hakim Faisal Siddiqui, Hakim Mohammed Amjad Chishti and Dr Maria Khan also presented their studies.
Published in Dawn, April 26th, 2018