President for cementing ties with Maldives

F.P. Report
ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi on Tuesday called for the need to further cement bilateral ties between Pakistan and Maldives in all fields of mutual interest, especially in the education, health and tourism sectors.
The president, talking to Pakistan’s High Commissioner-designate to the Maldives, Vice Admiral (r) Muhammad Fayyaz Gilani here, advised the envoy-designate to especially focus on establishing strategic ties with the Maldives in sectors such as trade, business and investment and people-to-people contacts. He also called for bilateral cooperation in health, education, human resource development as well as in the fields of defence, climate change and tourism.
The president highlighted the potential of cooperation in the tourism industry between the two countries as the Maldives was a world-class tourism destination and Pakistan could benefit from its expertise. He said that Pakistan could offer the distance learning and hybrid learning as well as the education expertise of Allama Iqbal Open University and the Virtual University of Pakistan for imparting competitive and high-quality education in various educational disciplines to the Maldivian students.
Alvi stresses educating public on oral hygiene as ‘best defence mechanism’ against diseases: President Dr Arif Alvi on Tuesday said the best way to address health challenges in Pakistan including dental ailments was to promote the importance of prevention over the curative approach of medical treatment.
Addressing here at the convocation ceremony of Foundation University College of Dentistry, he said the adoption of preventive practices against diseases would significantly help reduce the number of patients. President Alvi said dental diseases in the country could be largely overcome by educating people about oral hygiene through regular brushing.
He mentioned that proper oral healthcare also contributed to the body’s natural defence mechanism, thus cutting down the chances of several other diseases. He stressed the importance of especially educating children about dental healthcare at school to help them prioritize their own health.
In this regard, he said, community involvement was important to spread the message and urged the doctors to demonstrate good communication and empathy while treating their patients. Dr Alvi lauded the professionalism of the country’s doctors and dentists for contributing towards improving the health of the general public.
The president congratulated the young dentists, their parents and teachers on the landmark achievement and expressed satisfaction about a large number of women graduates. However, he pointed out that a significant number of women doctors left their professions after marriage, thus inflicting a big loss of good human resources to the country.
Dr Alvi called for introducing a ‘feasible’ solution by the institutions such as encouraging part-time jobs for doctors to help them continue with their profession besides raising their families. It was highlighted on the occasion that Foundation University College of Dentistry aimed to educate, research, and contribute to the national and international community of dental professionals. President Alvi gave away medals to the distinguished graduates who bagged positions in the field of bachelor of dentistry.