LAHORE - Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has said that there is no paucity of funds for healthcare in Punjab.
Addressing the first convocation of University of Health Sciences (UHS) yesterday, he said that serious discussions and deliberations of experts were needed to get required results.
A total of 547 graduates were conferred degrees in the convocation that included 16 PhD, 353 MPhil, 87 MS, 59 MSc Medical Technology, 17 MSc Nursing, 8 MD and 7 MDS.
The chief minister said that the Punjab government had made record budgetary allocation for health sector in the current financial year.
“Other countries of the region are doing better than us in health; Cuba of Fidel Castro is an example in this regard which is doing exceptionally well in healthcare,” he said adding that the professionals, experts, administrators and political leadership needed to fulfil their responsibilities. He lauded the role of UHS in medical education and assured Punjab government’s full support.
Referring to the death of 14 children from diphtheria in Children Hospital, Lahore, the chief minister said that a committee had been constituted to investigate the matter and those found responsible would not be spared.
Vice Chancellor Maj Gen (r) Prof Muhammad Aslam, advised the graduates to have a constructive attitude and think in terms of solutions, not in term of problems. He said that more than 60,000 students were registered with the university which was offering more than 100 programmes in medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, allied health sciences and nursing.
He further said the university had 393 publications and more than 1000 citations in indexed journals during last 5 years.
Those who awarded doctorate degree included Dr Fahim Haider Jafari (Anatomy), Dr Nashi Khan (Clinical Psychology), Dr Afia Hasnain (Physiology), Dr Waseem Haider (Forensic Medicine), Dr Shadab Ahmed Butt (Anatomy), Dr Muhammad Barkaat Hussain (Microbiology), Dr Mamoona Nasim (Anatomy), Dr Muhammad Imran (Cellular & Molecular Biology), Dr Sobia Rana (Cellular & Molecular Biology), Dr Nadeem Afzal (Immunology), Dr Samina Khokher (Surgery), Dr Adeela Uzma (Physiology), Dr Junaid Sarfraz Khan (Medical Education), Dr Sidrah Saleem (Microbiology), Dr Arham Shabbir (Pharmacology), Dr Sajjad Ullah (Human Genetics).
Besides, 49 graduates were awarded “Best Graduate Gold Medal” for their exceptional performance in university examinations in various programmes. In MBBS, Waqas Tariq Qureshi, Hina Hafeez Abbasi, Umair Saeed, Mariya Manzoor, Kamran Mushtaq, Sidra Zahoor, Fatima Zahid and Hammad Zafar whereas in BDS programme, Armughan Mirza, Muhammad Waheed Tahir, Eruj Shuja, Sana Iqbal, Zainab Asif Janjua, Annam Imtiaz, Nayha Enver, Hira Mateen and Maira Mubashar were awarded gold medals.
In MPhil programme, Ikram Din Ujjan, Ayesha Siddique, Iram Fayyaz, Ambreen Shabbir, Kokab Jabeen, Atika Masood, Raees Abbas Lail, Maryam Farooq and Najeeb Ullah were awarded “Best Graduate Gold Medal”.
The Hajvery Foundation Gold Medal for overall best graduate in MPhil was awarded to Najeeb Ullah of University of Health Sciences, Lahore.
For overall best gradate in MBBS, “M H Mubbashar Gold Medal” was awarded to Umair Saeed of Rawalpindi Medical College, Rawalpindi.
Nayha Enver of de’Montmorency College of Dentistry, Lahore, got “B A Yazdani Gold Medal” for being the overall best graduate in BDS.