NICH symposium ends - Minister lauds services of NICH

MN Reporter

Karachi: The 7th Symposium of National Institute of Child Health (NICH) attended by over 1,000 paediatricians from all over Pakistan and abroad concluded here on Sunday with a call for raising the priority given to non-communicable diseases (NCDs).

The two-day symposium which was inaugurated by Sindh Minister for Health Jam Mehtab Dahar discussed at length the factors responsible for NCDs among children and highlighted the importance of public health programmes for creating awareness about the chronic diseases.

Speaking on the occasion, the minister said that onset of many diseases start during childhood.

He said that though the burden of most of the deaths due to NCDs is in the adult age, children are also affected by the diseases.

“We are facing with a double burden of communicable and non-communicable diseases, but  we have to tackle all the challenges at the same time,” the minister said, adding that NICH being a leading children hospital has been doing a wonderful job by providing treatment not only to the children of Karachi, but also to the children of entire Sindh and Balochistan provinces.

Later, paediatricians - Dr Kaleemuddin Aziz, Dr Mehnaz Atique and Dr Ifra Samreen - briefed the participants about present scenario of cardiac diseases among children in Pakistan as well as in the world.
Dr Kate Armstrong of Australia highlighted the Pediatric Non- Communicable Diseases in Developing Countries;  Prof Dr Tahir Masood from Lahore discussed NCDs in children with Role of PPA;  Prof Li Long of Children Hospital, Beijing, China, spoke on the topic of `Minimally Invasive Surgery: a Cost-Effective Approach; Chairman ICH, Lahore, Dr Masood Sadiq discussed clinical approach and management of cardiac arrhythmias;  Dr Najma Patel of NICVD apprised about the current situation of Pediatric Cardiology, its past, present & future in Pakistan; Dr Naresh Kumar of NICVD presented his research work on “Outcome of Valvoplasty in Severe Pulmonary Stenosis with right Ventricular Failure”;  Dr Hussain Bux od NICVD briefed on the Safety of Aortic Valvuloplasty in children with Aortic Stenosis and Left Ventricular Dysfunction, while Dr Shantilal of SMBBU, Larkana, discussed management of shock in detail.

Haem-Oncology Session:  Dr Shamvil Ashraf of Children Cancer Hospital, Karachi, briefed on Leukemia Syndromes: Evaluation & Management; Dr Zehra Faddu of Aga Khan University Hospital discussed approach to Abdominal Masses in Children.

Earlier, Dr A. Ghafar Billoo, Prof IqbalMemon, Dr Salma Shaikh, Dr Saifullah Jamro and Dr Durenaz Jamal Qazi presented their research work on `Vaccinology’.

The other pediatricians who spoke on various topics relating to NCDs among children included Dr Noor-ul-Nisa of AKUH, Dr Syed Habib Ahmed of NICH, Dr Saqib Ansari of NIBD, Dr Abdul Aziz, Dr Arif Mateen, Dr Talat Mahmood, Dr Zafar Nazir, Dr Muhammad Arshad, Dr Shabbir Hussain and Prof Nizam-ul-Hassan, Dr Afroz Ramazn Sheali, Dr Iqtidar A Khan, Dr Khemchand, Dr Asia Zubair, Dr Misbah Anju and Dr BilqisNaseem.