LARKANA: Hamdard University (HU) Chancellor Sadia Rashid has urged the Sindh government to promote Tib+Unani as alternative treatment because the province is rich in indigenous herbal medicines.

Time demanded the rulers to come out with the wise decisions of encouraging the method of treatment with eastern medicines, she said in her presidential address at a one-day `Provincial Symposium on Tib-i-Unani` held here at Shahnawaz Bhutto Library Auditorium on Sunday. It was organised by the Pakistan Association for Eastern Medicine (PAEM).

Miss Rashid is also the patron of PAEM.

Speaking on the occasion, Prof Dr Hakeem Abdul Hannan, former HU vice chancellor and PAEM president, said that during the wave of Covid-19, the world had started exploring alternative methods of treatment.

It was the need of the hour that people connected with that system should focus on creating awareness about it, he added.

He estimated that the volume of herbal medicines manufacturing in the world would soon touch $200 billion, but a very few countries were reaping benefit of it. Thanks to Hakeem Muhammed Saeed that the alternative medicines industry was flourishing in the country at par with the world standard, he said, expressing the hope that Pakistan could emerge as a leading country in herbal medicines.

Addressing the event as chief guest, Sindh University Larkana Campus Pro Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Azhar Ali Shah appreciated the contribution of Hakeem Muhammad Saeed Shaheed to the sectors of health, education, science and technology.

He said the Eastern medicine, which was based on ancient medical theories reinterpreted and re-enforced by Muslim scientists like Alkandi, Bu Ali Sina and others, provided holistic and natural treatment of ailments focusing not only on the body, but also on the spirit and mind.

Dr Shah emphasised all the institutes of society to adopt and understand the eastern heritage, culture and civilisation.

Those who attended the event included Prof Dr Ahsana Dar, dean Faculty of Eastern Medicine at HU; Hakeem Muhammad Siddique Buriro, PAEM Sindh vice president; director general of Larkana health; hundreds of faculty members and research scholars.

Hakeem Muhammad Saeed had established the PAEM in early 1990s.