Our Correspondent Mirpur
President Azad Jammu Kashmir (AJK) Sardar Masood Khan on has said corona virus was not mere a pandemic but a global challenge of the current century that has raised gigantic medical and socio-economic problems.
Planning and coordinated efforts were direly needed to tackle these problems, and besides the public sector universities of Azad Jammu Kashmir, the higher educational institutions of the country would have to play a vital role, he added.
Addressing a webinar on ‘Corona Pandemic and the Role of Universities’, the AJK president cautioned that the issues like fear, skepticism and distrust among the nations in relation to the spread of this virus as well as a monopoly over its vaccine might lead towards clash.
The webinar was organized by the University of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, said AJK President office on Thursday.
The webinar was addressed by Vice-Chancellor AJK University Prof Dr Kalim Abbasi, Prof Dr Zabita Khan Shinwari of the Quaid-e-Azam University, Vice-Chancellor Central University Jammu (Occupied Kashmir) Prof Ashok Aima, Director-General Public Health Azad Jammmu Kashmir Dr Sardar Aftab Husain, Dean University of Health and Medical Sciences Dr Bashir-ur-Rehman Kanth, and Assistant Professor Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences Dr Mohammad Salim Abbasi.
Appreciating the role of public sector universities of Azad Kashmir during the coronavirus, the AJK president said these varsities have introduced online education and online examinations on emergency footings, and set a precedence of achieving better results.
Now the universities should create awareness among the people side by side with finding a solution to the problems and conducting research on other diverse medical issues, he said adding that they would have focus attention on the national level to develop an anti-corona vaccine.
Sardar Masood Khan said the strategy adopted by the AJK government helped a lot to prevent the large-scale spread of pandemics in the liberated territory.
Effective lockdown, smart lockdown, and cooperation among the universities, students, administration, ulema, and the masses helped the government to jointly cope the challenge, he added.
Touching upon the situation arose after sudden jump in the positive rate of coronavirus in recent days, the AJK president said adding, all segments of society would have to once again strictly adopt precautionary measures to prevent the most dangerous third wave.
Addressing the webinar, Vice-Chancellor AJK University Prof Dr Kalim Abbasi lauded the vision of AJK president who also holds the office of chancellor of the public sector university under which they organized the moot for creating awareness among the masses the pandemic.
He said the coronavirus had not only affected every aspect of life but also have consequences on the studies of 1.6 billion students of 190 countries.
