The four-day 8th InternationalSymposium-Cum-Training Course on Molecular Medicine and Drug Research,organized by Dr. Panjwani Center for Molecular Medicine and DrugResearch, concluded here on Thursday at the International Center forChemical and Biological Sciences (ICCBS), University of Karachi.
The symposium recommended that the alarming scenario in countries likePakistan demands urgent attention to increase awareness about healthylifestyles and the highly adverse effects of chewing various ingredients(like Pan, betel nuts, Gutka, etc.) on one hand and screening programsfor early detection of breast and mouth cancer on the other. Thesymposium also called on the lawmakers to legislate in both federal andprovincial assemblies the disease of cancer as a mandatory reportableevent like many infectious diseases for instance Covid-19. It was alsorecommended that a strict surveillance program for highly infectiousdiseases needs to be implemented to check and contain diseases like the Congo virus, Ebola virus, etc.
Addressing the closing ceremony, Prof. Dr. Atta-urRahman, ProfessorEmeritus and former Federal Minister for Science and Technology,appreciated the ICCBS administration for organizing such a usefulsymposium.
He also highlighted the importance of high-quality opendistance education and said that ICCBS has created a useful website atthe LatifEbrahim Jamal Science Information Center that excitinginitiative allows individuals from anywhere in the world to benefit fromtens of thousands of excellent courses without registration or payment.
Prof. Dr. M. Iqbal Choudhary, the Coordinator General OIC-COMSTECH, andUNESCO CHAIR on Medicinal and Bio-Organic Natural Product ChemistryICCBS said, “Our students are in fact our real wealth, who are thefuture of the country.”Prof. Dr. FarzanaShaeen, Director of the International Center forChemical and Biological Sciences, thanked the organizers, especiallyProf. Dr. AsmatSaleem, faculty, staff, students, and volunteers forplaying a key role in the organization of the international event. Shehoped that the conference would be meaningful for the participants,especially young scholars, and said that this meeting would fosterstronger research ties between participating scientists representingdifferent regions of the world.Foreign delegates, including Dr. Paul Denny from the UK, Dr. Xiao-PingWang from China, and Dr. Muriel Cuendent from Switzerland, alsoexpressed their views on the occasion. They said that we should worktogether on rare diseases which are neglected.
