ISLAMABAD: To lessen the burden and risk of diseases in the nation, President Dr. Arif Alvi has called for taking preventive measures. The President shared these opinions with medical students from Azad Jammu Kashmir Medical College, Muzaffarabad, who visited him on Wednesday at Aiwan-e-Sadr. According to the President, Pakistan’s health system cannot afford to meet the demands of its population of over 220 million people, so it is crucial to put an emphasis on the prevention of both communicable and non-communicable diseases. The President welcomed the students and said that because the world was changing so quickly, the nation’s educational system needed to adapt by putting more emphasis on developing students’ analytical skills.
He advised students to sharpen their IT skills because they would be widely used in all spheres of life. The President emphasized the value of the nursing profession, stating that more nurses and paramedics were needed in the country due to the profession’s significance and scope. He noted that Pakistan was experiencing a nurse shortage because it needed 900,000 nurses but only had 200,000 on staff at the moment, making it impossible for them to meet the demands of the expanding population. The President emphasized the value of education, saying that progress could not be made without a good education. He also advised students to work hard and pursue careers in service to humanity.
Meanwhile, President Dr. Arif Alvi urged women to play a bigger part in the political, social, and economic spheres in order to fully realize their potential and ensure Pakistan’s continued development and prosperity. He said in his remarks at a Women Leaders Awards ceremony held here in honor of International Women’s Day that women should work outside the home and that society should give them the necessary opportunities to succeed in their respective fields. He said that men should take it upon themselves to address women’s concerns about harassment at work. According to Dr. Alvi, Pakistan lags behind other nations in terms of gender parity, and actionable steps are required to close the gender inclusion gap in both the social and economic spheres.
He shared the example of Quaid e Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah whose sister Fatima Jinnah stood shoulder to shoulder with him during the movement for creation of Pakistan.”We cannot afford to keep women confined to the homes, if we want to make economic progress,” he emphasized adding countries like China made phenomenal progress by making women part of the economic endeavours.
The President said Islam gave rights to women including her right to inheritance many centuries back, at a time when there was no concept of these rights in other societies. In the western world, women were given these basic rights just in the last century, he pointed out.He cited the example of Hazrat Khadija ((AS), the wife of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), who was a business woman in her own right.The male dominated business class should encourage their female family members to become part of economic ventures, he advised.The President said banks had made available loans for women who should be guided and mentored so that they could avail these loans from financial institutions and start their own businesses.
He said it was unfortunate that majority of women in our country were deprived of the right of inheritance despite teachings of Islam, he noted.Talking about girls’ education, he said more than 20 million children in Pakistan were out of school whereas countries like India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka had achieved almost hundred percent enrollment at the primary level. In Pakistan, the enrollment of children in primary schools was at 68 percent, he apprised.The President said the initiatives of social protections like Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) contributed to the social and economic empowerment of women.The programme was a success because women were made direct beneficiaries as money was put in their hands and they were given responsibility to take decisions for the financial betterment of their families, he added.He said the process of digitization was helping women to work from the security of their homes.
He said Pakistan took a significant step when it gave representation to women in Parliament, adding more such proactive steps were needed to increase participation of women.Talking about the issue of increasing population, he said there were nine million unwanted pregnancies in the country every year and the issue could be tackled by making women aware about the availability of long term contraceptives.He said the awards were recognition of women who contributed to the betterment of society in diverse social and economic spheres.Begum Samina Alvi, wife of President Dr Alvi also spoke on the occasion and highlighted different initiatives taken for the empowerment and welfare of vulnerable sections of society especially women and children. President Hum Network Sultana Siddiqui in her remarks told about the annual event of awarding women leaders for their contributions and achievements.Earlier, President Alvi and prominent personalities from different walks of life gave away awards to women leaders including Parveen Saeed, Khawar Mumtaz, Karen Armstrong, Sabina Khatri, Laraib Atta, Amna Nawaz, Dr Zeba Sattar, Ronak Iqbal Lakhani, Naseem Salahuddin and Naeem Ahmed Mirza for their lifelong work that brought vital and positive changes in society.
