UVAS wins Rs300m Canadian funding

LAHORE: University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences (UVAS) has won an international collaborative funding with combined worth of 2.8 million Canadian dollars (equivalent to Rs 300 million) from International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Canada, under the Innovative Veterinary Solutions for Antimicrobial Resistance (InnoVet-AMR) programme.

According to a press release, the InnoVet-AMR is a partnership between the IDRC and the UK government’s Global AMR Innovation Fund (GAMRIF), which is part of the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC).

This project is a collaboration of UVAS and Punjab University in Pakistan and Purdue University in the USA to develop new technologies that will collectively replace the use of antibiotics in Pakistan’s poultry production.

Prof Dr Zafar Hayat is project leader from UVAS with Prof Dr Athar Mahmud and Dr Gulbeena Saleem as Co-PIs/team members. The UVAS research team joins Dr Paul Ebner, Purdue professor of animal sciences, Nicole Widmar, Purdue professor of agricultural economics and Dr Shafiqur Rehman from the University of Punjab to reduce risk that antimicrobial resistance in poultry poses to health and food security.

The project will reduce reliance on antibiotics in Pakistan’s poultry industry and support the transition to alternatives that enhance poultry health and efficiency without posing any risk to public health.

Platforms will be designed and implemented to encourage the rapid development of phage and nutraceutical-based antibiotic alternatives and a framework will be defined to introduce and promote these technologies for commercial and field use.

Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Talat Naseer Pasha congratulated the faculty on winning such a useful project and said it will prove a milestone in the development of poultry sector and availability of antibiotic-free and safe chicken to the consumers.

Korean delegation: Provincial Secretary for Specialized Healthcare and Medical Education Department Momin Agha met with a Korean delegation in his office on Monday. Matters regarding construction of a children hospital in Bahawalpur came under discussion during the meeting. He was briefed about the feasibility and progress on the construction of the children hospital in Bahawlpur. He appreciated the efforts and role of Korean government in constructing the state-of-the-art children hospital in southern Punjab. He said that international standard healthcare facilities would be provided in the newly constructed children hospital.