Rich tributes paid to Dr Mir Rehman Hashmi

Rich and glowing tributes were paid to late Dr Mir Rehman Ali Hashmi, a former Secretary General of the Pakistan Medical Association at a memorial meeting here on Tuesday. Dr Hashmi, a well known personality of medical profession, who played an instrumental role in the improvement of health care system and medical education in the country.
The memorial meeting was organised by the Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation (SIUT) here on Tuesday to pay tributes to Dr Hashmi and recount his contribution for the betterment and well being of Pakistani society at large. Dr Azra Raza, Professor of Medicine, Columbia University Medical Centre New York gave M R A Hashmi Memorial Lecture on "Decoding Cancer: Armed with Genomics is the end in sight".
Dr Azra Raza who is a graduate of Dow Medical College is a renowned expert on blood cell malignancies. She highlighted the role of the Human Genome Project in developing new frontiers in cancer therapy. She said that new treatment targeting the cancerous genes will render life threatening blood cancers to manageable chronic diseases. She described the effectiveness of new drugs targeting genes which has cured many patients, specially myelodysplastic syndrome.
The second session included leading personalities of medical profession, journalists, intellectuals and political figures. Leading lawyers and President of Workers Party Abid Hasan Manto who was the contemporary of Dr Hashmi in the student politics of fifties recalled his old association with Dr Hashmi as a student and later as a professional representing their respective fields said "Dr Hashmi was one of those rare personalities who was deeply committed for bringing social justice in the society. Manto said the late doctor was "an inspiring force for all those who worked with him.-PR