HYDERABAD, March 11 Medical fraternity, NGOs and the institute of mass communication should strive hard for creating awareness among the population about tuberculosis, its care and cure, said District Naib Nazim Zafar Rajput.

A joint rally under the aegis of Sindh TB Association and Hyderabad District Anti-TB Association was taken out from the Gymkhana to the press club on Wednesday to mark the World TB day.

Lack of awareness takes annually some nine million lives worldwide which could be minimised through effective awareness campaign, said Rajput.

Though the disease was now curable with the government making all out efforts to prevent it but then again the question of awareness sticks out as access and commitment of a doctor with patient was more important than other things, he said.

There were a large number of doctors, paramedics, representatives of NGOs and civil society in the rally carrying banners. According to Zafar Rajput, the district government was doing all it could to combat the menace but without community participation things stand nowhere.

EDO Health Hyderabad, Dr Bux Ali Pitafi, President District anti-TB Association Dr Abdul Samad Shaikh, Dr Nazir Ahmed Shaikh, Dr Rafique Qureshi and others also spoke on the occasion.

COMPENSATION District Nazim Kanwar Naveed Jamil distributed cheques among traders whose shops were recently burnt by miscreants in Latifabad Unit No 2 and Makki Shah Road.

He gave away cheques of Rs100,000 each to Basheer Ahmed, Pir Ahmed Khan, Abdul Maalik Khan and Nawab for enabling them to restart their businesses.

District nazim said that his government was doing everything possible to compensate traders whose shops were burnt by miscreants.

MPA Sohail Yousuf, Chairman Peace Committee, taluka nazim city, Ghulam Shabbar Chishti, Latifabad nazim Sabir Hussain Kaimkhani, PPP leader Amanullah Siyal, ANP leaders, Lala Aurangzeb, Haji Asmatullah Khan, Haji Sher Zaman Khan and others were also present on the occasion.

PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION Pakistan needs to upgrade its professional educational syllabus for matching with international standards while failure to do so would debase it further, said Sindh Agriculture University Vice-Chancellor Dr Abdul Qadir Mughal.

He said that formal research in the agriculture sector and animal sciences was not enough and emphasised upon the concerned institutions and the government to take the issues seriously. He was delivering the presidential address at a training programme organised by the university in collaboration with the HEC for teachers and students for the improvement of standard of education.