LAHORE:
Research is the scientific underpinning of the dental health profession and what makes dentistry a profession and not just a trade. Dental research promises a future brimming with opportunities and exciting possibilities, participants of a two-day annual conference of the Pakistan Association for Dental Research said on Saturday.
The University of Health Sciences (UHS) Oral Biology Department has organised the conference in collaboration with the Pakistan Association of Orthodontists, the Pakistan Dental Association and the COMSATS.
More than 500 scholars, researchers and dentists from the UK, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan are attending the conference, titled Translating Research Evidence into Dental Practice.
Beside 11 working sessions, the conference has pre-conference and post-conference workshops, 70 presentations, 45 poster presentations and exhibition of various technical, clinical and research based-items.
Punjab University Vice Chancellor Mujahid Kamran addressed the opening session stressing the need for research.
“The Pakistanis have become a resource-wasting people. There is no dearth of money; the only issue is that we have not been able to set our priorities right,” he said.
Kamran said the United States spent 5-7 per cent of its budget on education while Pakistan allocated only 2 per cent of its GDP for the purpose.
“Pakistan spends only 0.1 per cent of its budget on research and development.”
UHS Vice Chancellor Muhammad Aslam said globalisation of knowledge was no longer a trend but a priority for institutions and research centres.
He said oral health was an integral part of general health and a basic right. He said most oral diseases were preventable. Considerable improvements can be made if appropriate public health programmes are established, he said.
“Since oral environment is part of the human biologic system that changes every day, clinicians must understand biology of the individual while applying preventatives. The common denominator is research,” VC Aslam said.
Guest speakers at the conference included Syed Ali Khurrum, a clinician from the University of Sheffield; Kashif Hafeez from the Royal Society of Edinburgh; Sobia Bilal from the International Medical University, Malaysia; Rabia Tassaduq from the New York University; Amjad Wyne from the King Saud University in Saudi Arabia and Prof Abdul Mueed Zaigham.
The Pakistan Association for Dental Research is the local chapter of the International Association of Dental Research providing platform to dental researchers since 1920.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 26th, 2014.
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