ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi asked medical universities to increase graduate numbers to fulfill requirement of large number of doctors and nurses in country. “To enhance accessibility to healthcare facilities for general public, there is need to increase number of trained individuals in health sector”, President said while presiding over 6th session of Senate of Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Medical University, Islamabad.

He stressed for taking special measures to maintain services of female doctors in field of health adding that creating friendly and harassment-free environment for women at their workplaces was very important.

He advised universities should enhance their performance in research fields besides hiring services of experts to obtaining research grants from abroad. Session of university’s Senate was attended by Senator Samina Mumtaz, Vice-Chancellor Professor Tanveer Khalique and members of Senate. During session, briefing was given on university’s performance and future development projects.

It was highlighted in meeting that University had increased number of admissions in various fields, including nursing. Briefing also highlighted that University has trained 429 specialists in various fields within short period.

University has secured significant international research grants in various fields. It has also shown remarkable performance in medical research. Meeting was informed that in future, University planned to initiate new PhD programmes and complete construction of its first teaching block.

President Arif Alvi appreciating University’s contributions to medical education and acknowledging its overall performance, drew attention towards need for policies related to healthcare, emphasising importance of focus on disease treatment and prevention.

President Alvi emphasised that early prevention and timely diagnosis could reduce burden on healthcare system. He said focusing on disease prevention could lead to improvement in overall health situation of country at lower cost.

University’s Senate granted approval for amendments in service laws of employees, which is significant step. Annual report of University was also presented in meeting.

Published in The Daily National Courier, October, 27 2023

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