Ex-VC lauded for health services

LAHORE :Speakers have paid rich tribute to psychiatrist and medical educationist Prof Dr Malik Hussain Mubbashar for his role in the promotion of mental health and called him a symbol of courage and struggle. 

They were speaking at the launching ceremony of Prof Mubbashar’s autobiography “Meem Bashar” organised at the University of Health Sciences (UHS) on Monday.  “It was very easy for me to live a comfortable life in England after completing my education yet I decided to come back and dedicate my life to creating awareness about mental health issues and training psychiatrists,” Prof Mubbashar said. 

He said the book was about confronting his demons and his struggle to rediscover himself after a career as a professional psychiatrist and educationist. He said it was very painful for him to see how the poor people were forced to buy costly medicine and undergo expensive laboratory test by most of the doctors, a situation he termed as Empatho Anaemia or Ethico Anaemia.

Prof Mubbashar called for returning towards age-old cultural values and traditions of the East as it would revitalise the society though it would result in the closure of most of the clinics of psychiatrists.

Tasawar Zaman Babar read out the message of the President of Pakistan which was specially sent for the occasion.

Renowned educationist Prof Zafar Iqbal Qureshi read excerpts from the autobiography and commented: “All the emotional ties are ideological relations for him (author) which are expressed beautifully in the book”.

Former Vice Chancellor, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Prof Dr Iqrar Ahmad Khan, observed that Prof Mubbashar continued to struggle to uphold merit and his life was not as easy as it appeared. He had faced difficult times and had been part of unending struggle, he added.

He added “Meem Bashar” was not just another document about someone’s personal life but experience of a man who stood up against all odds. Prof Dr Mowadat Hussain Rana said that he had been a student of Prof Mubbashar for last 35 years. He expressed Prof Mubbashar as a “soul immersed in the ocean of Ishq”.

“He is a visionary, full of innovations,” UHS Vice Chancellor Prof Junaid Sarfraz Khan said, adding the next generation had to read this book to get an idea of the different stages of life. “One thing you need to learn from him is his straightforwardness and the way in which he clarifies information to the point”, he said.

Tariq Masood Yaseen, Prof Humayun Ehsan, Allama Asghar Ali Kausar Warriach, Col (R) Jawaid Iqbal, Noor-ul-Hassan, Ayyaz Ahmad, Amjad Mukhtar Chohan, Prof Shehnaz Aftab, Dr Amina Shakeel, Dr Usman and Dr Ali Madeeh Hashmi spoke on the occasion.

On this occasion, girl students of a private school performed the ‘Whirling Dervishes’ of Rumi. Prof Malik Hussain Mubbashar (Sitara-e-Imtiaz, Hilal-e-Imtiaz), who served as UHS VC from 2003 to 2012, has been recognised with the title ‘Professor Emeritus’ by the Syndicate of the University.

He is a highly acclaimed psychiatrist, academician, research scholar and medical educationist. He has around 40 years’ experience of teaching and practicing psychiatry, with more than 100 publications in national and international journals to his credit. He is also an author of 28 books. Currently, Prof Mubbashar is serving as the member Board of Governors UHS. He also holds the chair of the Global Mental Health Network based at the World Bank, Washington. He is a member of WHO Expert Committee on Mental Health and Drug Dependence, regional coordinator of Eastern Mediterranean region, International Consortium on Mental Health Policy and Services.