Mamnoon blames polio on regional wars

LAHORE:

“Polio spread in Pakistan in the wake of wars being fought in the region. We are not responsible for the outbreak,” President Mamnoon Hussain said on Friday.

“Instead of supporting us [to fight the disease], the international community has imposed curbs on us,” Mamnoon said at a medical conference.

The president said the quality of medical education in Pakistan was at par with the international standards. He said medical institutions in the country had been benefitting from the experiences of similar institutions in the modern world. Mamnoon stressed the need for educating people about ways of living a healthy life.

The availability of doctors in far-flung areas remained a challenge, he said. He said the lack of infrastructure was one of the reasons for doctors not being keen to serve in such places. The president said the government would provide incentives to the doctors serving in less-developed areas.

He said Pakistan and the United Kingdom had a deep relationship in the medical field. “A number of Pakistani doctors do fellowships in Britain.” He welcomed the Royal College of Physicians decision to give MRCP examination in Pakistan.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 27^th,  2016.