Scientific Innovations Broadening Public Health Horizon
The University of Sargodha organized a three-day international conference on future medication on January 19, 2018, highlighting the contribution of scientific innovations in the field of public health which is the core of public interest at large. The first conference on this important issue related to public health was organized by the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, Sargodha Medical College, University of Sargodha under the theme of 'Challenges to Health for all: Medical Updates and Innovations'.
This was also a maiden endeavor of the faculty in collaboration with Higher Education Commission of Pakistan and the Punjab Higher Education Commission, Lahore. Esteemed international and national medical experts from all specialties of medical and allied health sciences participated in the conference and noted that the human life span lengthened as infectious disease, heart disease, lung disease, and increasingly, cancer could be ameliorated through a combination of public health initiatives and better medicines, they added.
Dr Nessar Ahmed, a renowned scientist from Manchester Metropolitan University, United Kingdom delivered a lecture on 'Medicinal foods as Anti-Glycation Agents: Possible Therapy for Diabetic Complications'. He informed that diabetes mellitus affects 382 million people worldwide and increases their susceptibility to chronic complications such as retinopathy, neuropathy, nephropathy and impaired wound healing. There is little knowledge on plant derived medicinal foods in vivo or their mechanism of action however such foods deserve more attention as their consumption may delay or prevent diabetic complications, Dr Ahmed added. Prof. Dr Rakesh Verma, Head of Urology Department, Human Organ Transplant Center, Bakhtapur, Nepal presented his study on 'Renal Transplantation in Developing Countries'. He propounded that “kidney transplantation is the ultimate and successful treatment for failing Kidney”. Moreover, Kidney Paired Donors and Deceased Donors must be promoted and practiced for overcoming donor organ shortage, he urged. Dr Asma Aziz, Consultant Obstetrician and Gynecologist from Queen's Hospital, London presented 'New Service in a Large Obstetric Unit-A Promising Start'. The objective of her presentation was to audit the outcome and benefit of a new perinatal mental health service. “Establishment of such a unit helps to maintain continuity of care thereby improving patient satisfaction and outcome. It also helps the professionals looking after these patients as they have a definite documented care plan and are able to contact relevant team members when needed”, she concluded. Dr Ehsan-ur-Rehman, Consultant Oncologist from Northampton General Hospital, UK spoke about the relationship of ER, PR and Her 2 neu status with age, menopausal status and auxiliary nodal status in early breast cancer. “ER, PR and Her 2 neu status don't correlate with clinical parameters of disease. Triple negative, Her 2 enriched or receptor positive molecular subtypes of disease cannot be predicted from clinical parameters of the disease,” he informed.
Consultant Pediatrician from Royal Aberdeen Children's Hospital, UK Dr Nisar delivered a talk on 'Outcomes of Pediatric Cancers in Developing World'. In the context of cure rates, he recommended looking into a system of shared care set up where tertiary centers lead patient care with help of shared care centers where sufficient services are available to provide required supportive care.
