LAHORE: Inaugurating the ‘Silk Road Clinical Research Center’ at the University of Health Sciences (UHS) on Wednesday, Punjab Health Minister Dr Yasmin Rashid said on Wednesday that policies must be based on data and evidence generated through research while every medical university needs to focus on research on local health issues and come up with indigenous solution.
The center gifted by China’s Zhifei Longcom Biopharmaceutical Company will be built at a cost of Rs. 30 million and it will be used for vaccine trials and advanced medical research.
Accepting the offer to become the patron of research centre, she said the UHS was doing important work in the field of knowledge and research as it also conducted significant trials of the corona virus vaccines. So far 80 million people had been vaccinated against corona virus and the NCOC had expressed satisfaction on the steps taken by the Punjab government in that regard.
The minister also said the government was in the process of collection and analysis of precise data on genetic disorders. “Health facilities are being scaled up to support patients of genetic disorders. Punjab, which is already running the world’s largest thalassemia programme, has introduced latest technology to ensure pre-marriage thalassemia tests,” she added.
UHS Board of Governors Chairman former Chief Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani termed the establishment of the research centre as a major challenge for the university in the field of research.
Dr Shehnoor Azhar, UHS focal person for vaccine trials, said on the occasion that the UHS was approved for clinical trial site in August 2020. In October 2020, a trial of China’s CanSino vaccine was started in which 5,000 volunteers were recruited. The phase III trials of the second Chinese vaccine ZF2001 began in February 2021, recruiting 2,500 volunteers.
Moreover, speaking as chief guest at an orientation session for ‘Naya Pakistan Sehat Sahulat Card’, Dr. Yasmin Rashid said that more than 300 private sector hospitals have been empanelled for the card. Thousands of beds have been added in private hospitals since the introduction of the program, she added.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021
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