LAHORE      -   Post Graduate Medical Institute & Ameer-ud-Din Medical Col­lege Principal Prof. Dr. Sardar Muhammad Al-Fareed Zafar has said that increasing number of diabetic patients in Pakistan is alarming. He said it is need of the hour that doctors, civil society and media should come forward and work on a war footing basis to highlight preventive measures and hygiene principles among the citizens to control diabetes so that the new generation could be protected from this deadly disease. These views were ex­pressed by the PGMI Principal during a seminar on diabetic dis­ease organized by Lahore Gener­al Hospital medical unit-3, here on Wednesday. He highlighted that the total number of diabetic patients are 35 million across Pakistan, saying that millions of people have no knowledge about their disease. He added that diabetes is a rapidly spreading disease worldwide, especially in the third world and today every 5th Pakistani is suffering from diabetes. Al-Fareed maintained that although it is matter of great concern and diet, medicine, ex­ercise and other steps should be taken to overcome this threat. He said that it would not be wrong to call diabetes the mother of many diseases. Women who do not have diabetes but their sugar level remains high during preg­nancy is mainly because of men­tal stress and physical changes, he informed and said that such women should be referred to Gynecologists and their medical examination should be done reg­ularly to control excess diabetes and high blood pressure which pose risks to the life of mother and child during pregnancy.

Professor of Medicine Dr. Ta­hir Siddique, President PMA Prof. Ashraf Nizami, Dr. Azeem-ud-Din, Dr. Aziz Fatima and Dr. Muhammad Maqsood also high­lighted effects of the disease and urged the people to change diet along with their daily activities. On this occasion, Prof. Naeem Af­zal, Prof. Azeem Taj, Prof.