Steps being taken for polio-free Punjab: Dr Yasmin

LAHORE: Punjab Health Minister Dr Yasmin Rashid on Sunday appealed to parents to get their children immunised against polio.

In her message on World Polio Day, the health minister said that making Pakistan free from polio was her mission. She said, “All necessary measures are being taken to make Punjab free from polio. A clean and safe environment for children is the foremost priority of the government.”

All stakeholders are striving to achieve the goal of polio eradication. The role of parents is pivotal and they must get their children vaccinated to safeguard their children from poliovirus. The people must cooperate with health workers. The government is endeavoring to achieve 100 percent vaccination target.

Prime Minister Imran Khan and Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar want to make Pakistan free from polio, said the provincial health minister.

KEMU pays tributes: A farewell ceremony in honour of professors and Controller of Examinations, KEMU, retired during 2020-2021, held in Library Hall, Patiala Block, King Edward Medical University, here on Sunday.

Former Principal, KEMC, Prof Mahmood Ali Malik, graced the occasion as chief guest. Secretary Specialized Healthcare & Medical Education Department Dr Ahmed Javed Qazi, who is also a KEMCOLIAN, was on the stage as special guest.

Prof Khalid Masood Gondal, in his welcome address, said, “It is a matter of great pride and honour for us that the chief guest of the function is Prof Mahmood Ali Malik, a graduate of the same institute and the century best Graduate of KEMC in 1960. On January 25, 1990, was the first day when Dr Ahmed Javed Qazi came to this Institution and graduated from here in 1995 and today it is a matter of great pride that he is performing his duties as Secretary SHC&ME Dept.”

In honour of the retired professors, the VC expressed Prof Khawar Ali, Prof Irshad Hussain Qureshi, Prof Raja Pervez Akhtar, Prof M Arshad Chohan, Prof Raafea Tafweez Qureshi, Prof Arif Rasheed Malik, Prof Khalid Munir Cheema, Prof Ayesha Shaukat, Prof Zujaja Zaheer, Prof Tahir Jamil Ahmad, Prof Asad Aslam Khan and Prof Rana Muhammad Arshad selflessly rendered their services with honesty, dedication and devotion in their respective specialties along with academic, research and Infrastructural Development of the Institution.

Dr Khalid Mehmood Cheema who was the Controller of Examinations successfully conducted the examinations of MBBS and other programs along with JCAT examinations even during the COVID 19 Pandemic with strict observance of SOPs.

Secretary Specialized Healthcare and Medical Education Dr Ahmed Javed Qazi while expressing his views said, “It is a great pleasure and Honor for me that I have come to my Alma Mater. The memories of the past have been refreshed. He promised to facilitate his Alma Mater in academic, research and infrastructure structure development. He said that Prof Mahmood Ali Malik was our teacher and we learned a lot from him. He taught us a lot and his services can never be forgotten. "As a student of King Edward, I will do my best for this Institution.”

Chief guest Prof Mahmood Ali Malik, in his address, said, “Whenever I visit this historic Library Hall of King Edward, I remind of the days when I was admitted in this Institution as a student of Ist year MBBS class, he saw a great personality i.e. late Col Elahi Bakhsh who was the Principal of this great Institution. Whenever the name of this Institution is mentioned in foreign countries, people look up to its students.”

Prof Mahmood Ali Malik, Dr Ahmad Javed Qazi and Vice Chancellor Prof Khalid Masood Gondal presented commemorative shields to the retiring professors.