The 15th Annual International Conference on Family Medicine organised by the Pakistan Society of Family Physicians (PSFP) was concluded here on Sunday with a renewed pledge that the family physicians would continue to play their leading role for disease prevention and thus achieving the goal of creating health society.
Experts of various medical fields including psychiatry, medicine, pediatrics, cardiovascular and dermatology updated the knowledge of family physicians in the treatment of mental illness, hypertension, diabetes, cardiac diseases and skin diseases in workshops, scientific sessions and seminars held during the day.
In the opening session, Professor Dr Haroon Rashid Chaudhry, Head Department of Psychiatry Fatima Jinnah Medical College delivered a lecture on the topic of 'Happiness is Around You'.
In his speech he said the concept about mental illness was not fully developed and a majority of people in the developing countries were unable to comprehend the true nature of illness, especially in terms of causation and treatment approaches.
Emphasising the need for formulating a comprehensive strategy to cope with increasing trend of suicide and mental ailments, he called for glorifying and personifying causes of suicides and homicides, as these are diseases, which runs into families.
He said the goal of happiness could be achieved through leading simple life.
Dr Akmal Makhdoom spoke on psychiatry treatment in the community while Uzma Mubashar talked about relaxation therapy.
In another session, Dr Arshad Cheema spoke on presentation and management of carcinoma breast while Dr Asim Malik talked about management of diabetic foot in primary care. Dr Abdul Mannan spoke about prevention and management of urinary calculus while Dr Syed Nawazish highlighted the effects of garlic in hypertension.
In another scientific session, Dr Amjad Salamat gave update in the treatment of Hepatitis while Dr Aizaz Mand Ahmad talked about the role of ACE inhibitor in hypertension with metabolic syndrome.
Professor Dr Kamran Cheema in his presentation on management of asthma said that pollution is on rise in the country due to increasing pollution. He called for adopting a comprehensive strategy to check the disease.
In a seminar in Child Health, experts including Dr Huma Arshad Cheema, Dr Irtaza Chaudhry, Dr Hafiz Arif Malik and others said that nearly 20 percent of the world's children do not have safe water sources.
According to them, over 15 percent of children under five in the developing world are severely malnourished. In South Asia alone, more than 90 million children go hungry every day.
They were of the view that family physicians can play leading role in checking child mortality.
'More than 10 million children die each year in the developing world, where one child in 10 dies before its fifth birthday, compared with one in 143 in high-income countries.
In 2002, the average under-five mortality rate was 121 deaths per 1000 live births in low-income countries, 40 in lower-middle income countries, and 22 in upper-middle income countries', they said.
They said malnutrition including acute respiratory infections; diarrhea, measles, and malaria are major causes of diseases among the children.
In another seminar on family planning, the speakers including Dr Iftikhar Rana, Dr Mubashar and Khawaja Naeem highlighted the role of family physicians in improving reproductive health and family planning services in primary care.
Moreover Professor Atif Husnain Kazmi and Professor Safdar Malik conducted workshops on Dermatology and Ultrasound, respectively.
Talking to Business Recorder Dr Aftab Iqbal Sheikh, President and Dr Shaharyar Ahmad Bhatti Secretary General of PSFP said this moot was of great success which has will go a long way in achieving the goal of healthy society.
They said that society is focussing on collaboration of public and private sectors for national health issues like TB, Hepatitis, AIDS, population planning etc.
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