The four-day Paediatric Urology Conference, which concluded here, greatly lauded the initiatives taken by the SIUT (Sind Institute of Urology and Transplantation) in attending to multiple issues and children’s healthcare in the country.
The conference-cum-workshop was jointly hosted by the SIUT and APAPU (Asia Pacific Association of Paediatric Urologists) and attended by some three hundred urologists, including forty from overseas.
The conference was bifurcated into two parts. The opening two days were dedicated to screenings of live surgeries, which were followed by discussions amongst the participants. The remaining two days of the conference focused on research papers.
Deliberations were based on exchanging experiences, which had come from their respective countries. Some vital health issues of children in developing countries, including mortality and disability, were discussed in depth. The highlight of the surgeries that were performed was peculiar in nature, as in three surgical theatres functioned simultaneously.
Renowned surgeons who performed procedures included Professor Philip Ransley from the UK, Professor Mark David Leclair from France, Mazen Zeino from Switzerland, Professor Alaa El Ghonemi, an Egyptian but who is now a naturalized French surgeon, besides Hameed Haroon, who has been engaged in various projects of the SIUT.
Taking part in the discussion, the speakers prioritized the prevailing ailments when they discussed the initiative to reduce mortality and poor growth of children in developing countries. They highlighted the indicators for poor health among children in Pakistan and suggested the need for a holistic approach which included cure and prevention as foremost.
Hameed Haroon underlined the need for creating a livable environment among the 45 per cent children, particularly the disadvantage segment which hugely covers the female children living in remote areas. These areas lack many amenities, but health occupies the top of the list. On this occasion Professor Sajid Sultan, head of the SIUT Paeds Unit, presented the history of his department.
Speakers paid tributes to Prof Adib Rizvi, founder director of the SIUT, who has gone extra mile to set up a paediatric surgery unit in his institution and achieved series of milestones. The speakers, while paying tributes to Prof Rizvi, said in 30 years of journey children were treated under the auspices of the SIUT philosophy that all treatment is given free of cost with no discrimination of cast, colour or creed.