Sarwar for giving importance to vitamin-D

LAHORE:Governor Ch Muhammad Sarwar Thursday said Pakistan is facing many serious challenges in the health sector and one of them is “a severe deficiency of vitamin-D” as according to some estimates, around 85 per cent of the Pakistani population is facing deficiency of this super vitamin.

“It is an alarming situation where around 85 per cent of Pakistani population is facing vitamin-D deficiency, which is exposing them to various communicable and non-communicable diseases. In this situation, the establishment of a vitamin-D academy in the country is a right step in the right direction”, the governor said while speaking at a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the establishment of Pakistan’s first Vitamin-D Academy at the University of Health Sciences (UHS).

An MoU was signed on the occasion between the UHS, Pakistan Society of Internal Medicine (PSIM) and a local pharmaceutical firm for the establishment of the country’s first vitamin-D academy to train physicians and healthcare providers about the importance of the essential vitamin and disseminate knowledge about its role in prevention and treatment of various diseases. He said that vitamin-D deficiency has remained a neglected area despite numerous studies highlighting its importance in the growth of children and prevention of people from several diseases as well as its role in treatment, saying its deficiency should be given equal importance along with diabetes, hypertension and obesity in the country. Ch Sarwar said there was an urgent need for interaction between provinces on positive initiatives and vowed to visit Karachi, Peshawar and Quetta for the launch of initiatives like this on a national level to provide maximum benefit to the nation.

“We should rise above the politics and help each other. Every province of Pakistan has something to offer and I’m willing to become a bridge between our provinces and federating units. I remain in touch with CMs and governors of other provinces and would soon visit Sindh, KP and Balochistan to take this idea of Vitamin D Academy to the national level”, he added.

Vice-Chancellor UHS Prof Dr Javed Akram said COVID-19 had not only exposed the Pakistani nation’s Vitamin D deficiency but also provided an opportunity to become a healthier society by overcoming the deficiency of this super vitamin and other micronutrients. “Studies conducted by us at UHS has revealed that low Vitamin D levels not only increase the chances of getting infected with Covid-19 but chances of having severe disease also increase manifolds. We have found that death rate tipples among people with severe Vitamin D Deficiency”, Prof Javed Akram added.