AKUH: 'Signs, Symptoms and Care'

Monitoring the air pollution index in cities and towns through continuous measurement of sulphur dioxide, lead and suspended particle levels is essential for a creating a healthy environment. As such there is an urgent need for a healthy public policy in the environmental context.

This was stated by Dr Riaz Qureshi, Professor and Chair of the Department of Family Medicine at Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH), during 'Signs, Symptoms and Care', a monthly public health awareness programme organised by AKUH at the University Hospital's Clifton Medical Services Centre in Karachi on December 22, 2004.

Dr Qureshi suggested that the establishment and implementation of emission standards for all sources, including buses, trucks, cars and factories, will contribute towards controlling rising air pollution and preventing a number of diseases. He warned that lack of physical activity "doubles the risk of heart disease and is a major risk factor for stroke." Dr Qureshi also expressed concern over the fact that the death rate for coronary heart disease in South Asians, including Pakistanis, living in the UK is 40 to 50 per cent higher than the local white population. "This is due to higher level of insulin resistance in the South Asian population, resulting in impaired glucose tolerance and metabolic syndrome which consists of diabetes, raised plasma insulin, abdominal (central) obesity, high blood pressure, disturbed cholesterol level and cardiovascular disease," he added.

An appropriate low-fat diet, avoidance of smoking, increased physical activity, reduction of stress and controls on air and water pollution are essential to a healthy mind and body, concluded Dr Qureshi. Drs Badar Ali, Raheem Dhanani and Firdous Jehan, Consultant Family Physicians at AKUH, also participated in the question-and-answer session.

As part of its outreach programme and societal commitment to creating awareness of early diagnosis and timely treatment, AKUH has organised over 150 'Signs, Symptoms and Care' programmes in Karachi, Hyderabad and the UAE, benefiting more than 33,000 people. Similarly, AKUH's Patient Welfare Programme offers financial assistance to those patients who are unable to afford the medical cost of their treatment. In 2003, 74 per cent of all patients treated at the AKUH were from low- to middle-income areas. Since the inception of this welfare programme in 1986, over Rs. 1.05 billion has been disbursed to more than 200,000 needy patients.