International Symposium on ‘Ramadan and Health’ at Karachi Pakistan

An international symposium on ‘Ramadan and Health’ was jointly organized by Research Department and National Institute of Diabetes and Endocrinology, Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS) at Ojha campus, DUHS, Karachi on Saturday, October 26, 2013. It was the first of its kind in Pakistan. International speakers from Iran and Kuwait and many local speakers who did research on effect of Ramadan fasting on diabetes and other diseases talked about their studies. All together, twenty two studies had been presented in three scientific sessions. About 300 delegates participated in this one-day symposium. Prof. Dr. Masood Hameed Khan, Patron of the symposium and Vice Chancellor DUHS welcomed the delegates, while Prof. Dr. Zaman Shaikh, Chairman and Prof. Dr. Nazeer Khan, Co-Chairman of the symposium talked about the ‘Introduction’ and ‘Purpose of the Symposium’, respectively in the ‘Inauguration Session’. Key-Note address was delivered by Mr. S.M. Munir, Chairman, Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) and Chairman, Din Group of Industries. Most of presentations were related to the effect of Ramadan fasting on diabetic patients, however, Dr. Jasem Ramadan Alkandari of Kuwait talked about the relationship of Ramadan fasting and physical activities and Dr. Mohsen Nematy of Iran presented a review on the relationship of Ramadan fasting with body mass index, body water, body fat mass, cardiovascular and renal diseases as well as asthma. At the end of the symposium many important recommendations have been suggested by the experts. Two of them were as follows: 1) To develop an international collaborative group of experts who are working on the effect of Ramadan fasting, 2) To organize biennial conferences on ‘Ramadan and Health’ in Pakistan on regular basis. To follow the second recommendation of the symposium, Jinnah Sindh Medical University, Karachi is holding ‘Pakistan 2nd International Biennial Conference on “Ramadan and Health”, jointly organized by Baqai Institute of Diabetology & Endocrinology, Karachi and Sir Syed Institute of Diabetes and Endocrinology, Karachi on Saturday & Sunday; 10th & 11th October 2015. International speakers, like Prof. Fereidoun Azizi (Iran), Dr Mohsen Nematy (Iran), Prof. Mafauzy Mohammad (Malaysia), Prof. Mohamed M. Hassanein (UK), and Dr. Adel El Sayed (Egypt) have already consented to present their talk in this conference. Hopefully, it would be a gala event in Karachi, the biggest metropolitan city of Pakistan. For further information, please contact Prof. Nazeer Khan, Chairman of the conference, on email: ramadan.con2@jsmu.edu.pk or on phone: +92-21-35223811-15/ext 358.