LAHORE: (Wednesday, April 5, 2023): Punjab University has established Center of Excellence in Maternal and Child Health at its Department of Public Health. In this regard, Punjab Higher Education Commission Chairman Prof Dr Shahid Munir, Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Khalid Mahmood, Vice Chancellor University of Poonch Dr Zakria Zakir, Institute of Social and Cultural Studies Director Dr Rubina Zakir, Dean Faculty of Commerce Prof Dr Mubbsher Munawar Khan, faculty members and others were present. In his address, Dr Shahid Munir said that state played important role to provide better healthcare facilities for the mother and child and in the welfare states, maternal and child health is taken care of. He said that spending 4% of GDP on health could solve such problems. He said that if Pakistan gets out of debt, it will be able to spend more on health and education. He said that no country could develop without the participation of women. He said that the centre could play effective role to create awareness about maternal and child health in collaboration with PU School of Communication Studies. He said that social work brought positive changes to the students. He said that he had seen an endowment fund at department level for the first time in a university and all universities should follow it. Dr Khalid Mahmood said that the basic responsibility of a university is teaching, research and community service. He said that the teaching and research centers should serve the community. He said that the concept of endowment fund needed to be promoted. He said that departments should establish an endowment fund to provide facilities to students.

Dr Zakria Zakir said that Pakistan was facing severe challenges in every field, but these challenges should be met with hope and not with despair. He said that one can move forward with hope, positive thinking and courage. He said that even when there was no common pin in the offices at the time of inception, Pakistan had moved forward. He said that nature sends the child with life to grow further. However, due to lack of facilities and man-made problems, children die. Dr Rubina Zakir said that the center had been established to improve maternal and child health. She said that the health of mother and child played an important role in achieving social development goals. She said that the Centre has initiated a pilot project for better maternal and child health of a specific area. She said that in the category of maternal and child health, we are far behind the developing countries. She said that the endowment fund was established by PEP Foundation USA and 25 tablets have been purchased for intelligent students from this fund. She said that tablets are being distributed to improve the digital skills of the students.