DADU, Jan 29: The president of the Pakistan Psychiatric Society (Sindh chapter), Dr Azizur Rehman, has said that 37.5 million people were suffering from schizophrenia and 340 million people were suffering from depression in the world and the number of psychiatric patients was increasing in the world.

He said the number of psychiatric patients was increasing as a result of poverty, low rate of literacy, unemployment, political instability, violence, human rights violation and corruption.

He was speaking at a seminar on the topic of “various presentations of mental disorders and their consequences” organized by the Organization for Mental Health, here on Sunday.

He said that owing to depression, people were committing suicide and only 20 psychiatric patients out of 100 were reporting to clinics.

He said the government was not paying attention towards the disease as only 2,000 beds were provided in mental government hospitals, 870 in government teaching hospitals and 600 in private hospitals in the country.

He said that this indicates negligence of the government.

He said that according to a report presented on mental health in the UN General Assembly in 1996, 20 per cent patients were involved in mental disabilities and the ratio of the psychiatric patients was increasing.

Dr Qadir Abro, President of Pakistan Mental Organization, said that according to a report of the WHO published in 2001, a large number of people were suffering from various mental disorders in the world.

President of the Sujag Sansar Organization, Mashooq Birhamani said that the psychiatric disease was increasing among women in Sindh due to forced marriages.

The president of the Madadgar Foundation, Abbas Joyo, Dr Badar Junejo, Asghar Soomro, social campaign manager British Council Karachi, Qazi Shafique, Rabia Jamali and former MPA Ghulam Shah Jilani also spoke on the occasion.

Professor Musarrat Hussain, head of the department of psychiatric of the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre with the help of video clippings informed the audience about the health education for psychiatric disease.

VC: Professor Jan Mohammad Memon, vice-chancellor of the Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences, has said that the university is striving to provide quality medical education and healthcare in the set-up.

He was speaking at a special lecture programme on “family medicine at LUMHS”, on Saturday.

Professor Memon said that discipline of family medicine has made progress in different parts of the world but unfortunately it has not developed in Pakistan, except at the Aga Khan University (AKU).

Speaking on the occasion, Johan W. Beasly, professor emeritus family medicine, University of Wisconsin USA, said that family medicine was playing an important role in US health care system.

Prof Riaz Qureshi, chairman of the department of family medicine at AKU, said that doctors should earn respect, instead of demanding it.

He said that academy for family health in Karachi and college of family medicine in Lahore would be established.

Dr Waris Qidwani of the AKU spoke on scope of family medicine and challenges in Pakistan.