‘Public health must focus on well-being of communities too’

Lucknow: Public health is not limited to medical issues, instead, it is a wide field which encompasses safeguarding the overall well-being of communities, said experts during a three-day national conference and workshop on ‘Experimental and Public Health’, on Monday. The event was organized jointly by the experimental and public health laboratory and the molecular and human genetics laboratory of Lucknow University’s zoology department.

The conference was inaugurated by Dr Nuzhat Husain from Ram Manohar Lohia Institute of Medical Sciences. She spoke about the prevention and screening of cervical cancer.

“There is an urgent need of implementing a Pap smear test system for early detection of cervical cancer. It tests for the presence of precancerous or cancerous cells on one’s cervix,” she said.

Principal scientist Ritu Trivedi of Central Drug Research Institute said, “Indigenous discoveries are important for public health. CSIR-CDRI Caviunin Scaffold is one such example of an indigenous discovery that has broad applications for bone health that includes its efficacy in treating osteoporosis, fracture healing, osteoarthritis, and other endocrinological conditions .”

Dr Anamika Pandey of KGMUspoke on experiments to investigate public health problems while Dr Ankur Bhatnagar of SGPGIMS made students and faculty aware of physical and mental well-being through SPARC (stabilization, psycho-education, addressing adjustment issues, coping skills enhancement and recovery) during Covid-19.

“Public health has been included as an interdepartmental subject in LU in accordance with the New Education Policy 2020,” said convener Prof Suchit Swaroop of LU’s zoology department.

Doctors who addressed the event included Dr Preeti Dabadghao (SGPGI), Dr. D Himanshu (KGMU), Dr Nilam Pathak (Avadh University), Dr Hifzur R Siddiqui and Dr M Arshad of Aligarh Muslim University.