A joint delegation made up of four members of COMSTECH and Pakistan visited China from July 12 to July 18, 2023, under the direction of Coordinator General COMSTECH.
In addition to bilateral cooperation and COMSTECH-Sino cooperation in the fields of healthcare, traditional medicines, nutrition, and drug discovery and development for health, it was decided in a meeting with the higher representatives of the Chinese ministry of health that the “Sino-COMSTECH International Forum on Food and Nutrition” will be held in Islamabad early in the following year, according to Coordinator General COMSTECH, Prof. Dr. M. Iqbal Choudhary.
A joint delegation made up of four members of COMSTECH and Pakistan visited China from July 12 to July 18, 2023, under the direction of Coordinator General COMSTECH, Prof. Dr. M. Iqbal Choudhary. This delegation represented both COMSTECH and Sindh’s ministry of health.
The delegation included other officials as well as Dr. Azra Fazal Pechuho, Provincial Minister, Department of Health & Population Welfare, Government of Sindh, and Prof. Dr. M. Iqbal Choudhary, Coordinator General COMSTECH.
Prof. Choudhary mentioned that it had been decided that Hunan University of Chinese Medicine would provide 10 to 20 fellowships for trainees in various scientific research fields and disease diagnosis. He added that 4-6 Post-doc positions would also be made available to researchers from OIC member states.
The launch of this Sino-COMSTECH S&T capacity building programme is imminent. Prof. Choudhary went on to say that it was also decided to launch a project to evaluate the nutritional requirements of expectant mothers, lactating women, and newborns in order to create complementary foods as nutrient supplements for their health.
For the purpose of examining additional opportunities for cooperation between China, Pakistan, and COMSTECH member states in the fields of health and medicine, the COMSTECH-Pakistan joint delegation took part in health dialogues with Chinese health ministry, hospitals, institutions, and enterprises.
An important occasion that brings together important stakeholders to talk about and address food and nutrition challenges in the area is the Sino-COMSTECH International Forum on Food and Nutrition. A number of recommendations for action to enhance food security and nutrition in the OIC region are anticipated to come from the forum, which offers a platform for knowledge sharing and collaboration.
Prof. Choudhary stressed the importance of promoting traditional medicine in the OIC world of 1.8 billion people on four continents while speaking at the seminar on “Sino-Pak traditional medicine collaboration to safeguard human health.”
The threat of violent extremism is one of many security and development challenges that the OIC world faces, he continued. For collective development, he said there is a need for partnerships to be established between the most influential nations in STI, including China, in addition to national efforts.
Prof. Choudhary received a visiting professorship from two institutions during his visit, Beijing Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Capital Medical University, and Institute of Food Science and Technology (IFST), Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), in recognition of his contributions to the medical field.