"Fasting and Health" Seminar at Dow

KARACHI:  As we are proceeding towards the holy month of Ramadan, an public awareness program about Ramadan Fasting and Health for general public was organized by School of Public Health in collaboration with Research Department and National Institute of Diabetes & Endocrinology, Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS) at its Ojha Campus. The theme of the program was to create awareness about self-care among general public as well as patients with diabetic, hypertensive and liver disease.

Chief Guest, Sadar Muhammad Yasin Malik - Chairman Hilton Pharma, sharing his views on the occasion said that; The holy month of Ramadan is a great opportunity to focus on bringing back a balanced and healthy lifestyle and through ramadan fasting you learn how to manage your eating habits and improve self-discipline. He also appreciated the effort of Dow University of Health Sciences and its constituent institutes in arranging awareness programs on different themes for general public.

Addressing the audience, Prof. Masood Hameed Khan - Vice Chancellor, DUHS emphasized on the role of awareness campaigns in improved management of patients with different conditions. He also showed his satisfaction that the School of Public Health has taken the initiative in the right direction. He said that such programs play an important part, especially in developing countries where common people do not have education and knowledge about their illness, and they totally rely on the clinician for management, posing burden on their families and healthcare system.

Dr. Kashif Shafique - Assistant Professor & Vice Dean, School of Public Health, DUHS also highlighted the importance of the program, while giving a brief overview of this awareness event. Prof. Nazir Khan - Director Reserarch Department DUHS informed about the role of Ramadan Fasting Unit at DUHS to facilitate the research work on the effect of Ramadan fasting on human health. Keeping in view that we are dependent on western countries for research, DUHS has established this unit, so that our own research data for our own country can be generated.

Dr. Fareeduddin - Deputy Director, National Institute of Diabetes & Endocrinology highlighted the role of NIDE in relation to Ramadan Fasting Unit. He also talked on what care is needed for pregnant women during Ramadan fasting.

Renowned clinicians from various reputed institutes including; Prof. Muhammad Masroor, Dr. Yaqoob Ahmeddani, Dr. Nazli Hussain and Dr. Shahid Majid delivered the lectures to the patients and their caregivers on; How to look after themselves while they are observing fast in the holy month. They informed that usually patients and caregivers are not well explained how to manage illnesses while fasting, which leads either to guilt or helplessness of skipping their religious obligation or complications. Dow University of Health Sciences has always been engaged in arranging awareness programs on different themes for general public under their motto of “prevention is better than cure”.

The program also offered free baseline medical testing to the participants (including blood sugar, cholesterol levels, and others) and provided the opportunity to discuss their concerns regarding fasting and disease management with a panel of experts which also included a religious scholar.