PESHAWAR: Experts have called upon doctors to conduct research on health issues, including cancer, to ascertainthereasonsofdifferentdiseasesand offer treatment to the patients in line with latest development in the area of medical sciences.

`Pakistan has a mixed health system as services, including cancer care, are provided by public sector hospitals, private institutions and non-profit sector simultaneously. More than 200,000 new cases of cancer are recorded every year in Pakistan,` Dr Faisal Sultan, the chief executive of Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre (SKMCH&RC), told participants of a three-day symposium concluded here on Sunday.

According to him, about 50,000 patients contact SKMCH for care but thehospital can only treat about 12,000 patients annually and 75 per cent of them receive totally free diagnostic and treatment services through the fund donated by people and organisations.

The 22nd Shaukat Khanum Cancer Symposium, the largest oncology meeting of Pakistan, was attended by more than 2,000 people including international and national speakers from 12 different countries.

Dr Faisal, a former federal minister, said that third SKMCH was nearing completion in Karachi and its date of inauguration would be announced accordingly.

He said that he was pleased to receive positive feedback about the event, especially from students and researchers, who expressed their gratitude for the excellent platform on cancer care.

The symposium was meant to bring together experts from around the world for effective exchange of knowledge on the subject to ensure the best possible care for cancer patients in the region.

He said that even Afghan nationals received free treatment services in the hospital because its staff did not ask about the nationality of patients.

He said that the flow of people withcancer from Afghanistan seeking care in Pakistan continued through the years, regardless of the situation of refugees.

`We need to devise new national and international policies and adopt practices to provide relevant models of care in situation of conflict and in the neighbouring regions that welcome refugees, said Dr Faisal, who co-authored a study `Cancer care in times of conflict: Crossborder care in Pakistan of patients from Afghanistan`.

Other experts discussed topics including breast cancer, oncological nursing, paediatric oncology, pathology, palliative medicine, anaesthesia, pain medicine, oncological pharmacy, infectious diseases in cancer, bone marrow transplant and haematological malignancies.

The plenary talk was delivered by Prof Syed A Hussain from University of Sheffield, UK. He spoke about `Precision Medicine in Oncology`, and shared the latest updates on liquid biopsies and circulating tumour DNA.

He appreciated the organisers, especially the event chair Dr Kashif Sajjad from Peshawar and Dr Usman Ahmad from Lahore, and all the participants for their enthusiastic participation. Suchevents were aimed at spreading latest research in the area of cancer, he said.

SMCH medical director Dr Asif Loya presided over Ahsan Rashid Memorial Research Session, which was the muchanticipated segment of the symposium and named after a great supporter and benefactor of Shaukat Khanum Memorial Trust. Six papers contested for Ahsan Rashid Memorial Research Award.

The winner, Ali Islam, presented a study on `Next generation sequencingunravelling genomic variants relevant to clinical practice`.

Dr Usman Rashid won Bashir Alavi Award for his research `Chasing the origin of 23 recurrent BRCA1 mutations in Pakistani breast and ovarian cancer patients`.

Tahira Batool won Begum Mir Research Award in nursing category for her study on `Family caregivers` experiences of caring for cancer patients in tertiary care hospitals in Islamabad`.

During the session, Dr Aasim Yusuf, the chief medical officer of SKMCH, updated the audience about the research in his hospital and education and training opportunities being offered by the institution.