Novel methods to tackle diseases urged

Speakers at an international workshop on the development of animal disease models for metabolic diseases Wednesday called for developing novel therapeutic techniques to tackle illnesses.

The three-day event kicked off at COMSTECH.

The workshop is being delivered by COMSTECH scholar Prof Hafizur Rahman, Chairman of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Dhaka International University, Bangladesh.

The Coordinator-General COMSTECH, Prof M Iqbal Choudhary said in his welcome remarks that this is an important event in the context of challenges we are facing today.

He said we live long but we live with chronic diseases. Prof Choudhary mentioned that we think that the pharma industry is designed to develop new drugs to treat diseases, but the reality is different. They design and develop drugs as a business. Prof Choudhary informed us that we think that the diseases cannot be treated with current therapies.

He said many diseases currently are managed and are not treated, such as diabetes. Prof Choudhary emphasised the need of developing our own drugs.

In his opening remarks, Prof Hafizur Rahman said that this workshop is timely and the need of the hour. He said everyone nowadays can live long, but by managing some diseases. Prof Rahman said that diabetes is a metabolic disease and it causes many problems.

He informed that the drugs are designed and developed by Western countries to address their own needs.

He said that one drug can't be effective all over the world. He emphasised the need of developing localised models and medicines.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 4^th, 2023.