Pakistani doctors to help Syrian refugees in Turkey

The Pakistan Islamic Medical Association (PIMA) has dispatched a three-member medical team to Istanbul, Turkey to assist Syrian refuges and asses their medical requirements, a spokesman for the association said on Monday

Headed by surgeon Prof Muhammad Iqbal Khan, the PIMA delegation comprises Prof Hafeez-ur-Rehman of the Peshawar Medical College and PIMA General Secretary Prof Khubaib Shahid.

The PIMA spokesman said the delegation would also hold meetings with Turkish healthcare officials, international NGOs and representatives of Syrian refugees to assess their medical needs. The team would decide how many healthcare officials are required in Turkey to meet the medical requirements of displaced people, he said.

In the recent years, the association has sent its medical teams, comprising physicians and surgeons as well as psychiatrists, to many countries in the world, especially Islamic countries including Lebanon, Palestine, held-Gaza strip and Sudan to provide medical assistance to the displaced people due to war and natural disasters. Turkey is hosting around four million Syrian refugees because of years-long civil war and strife in their native land.