Federal Minister for National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination Abdul Qadir Patel called on Saudi Arabia’s Minister for Health Fahad Bin Abdulrahman Al-Jalajel on Tuesday in Cairo (Egypt).
The minister, who is visiting Cairo to attend the 69th Regional Mediterranean Conference of the World Health Organization (WHO), briefed the Saudi minister on the issues of recognition and degrees’ accreditation related to Pakistani medical universities, including MS, MD and PhD, says a message received here from Egypt.
The minister said the Pakistani medical universities were awarding degrees to post-graduate medical doctors on merit and as per international standards.
The Saudi health minister assured his Pakistani counterpart that matters relating to the registration or accreditation of MS, MD and PhD degrees would be taken up by the concerned and he would ensure an early resolution of the issue.
Abdul Qadir Patel also shared about Pakistani professionals, skilled nurses, paramedics, and technicians, including physiotherapists, requesting the Saudi health minister that the services of the professionals should be engaged on priority in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The Saudi minister said, “Both Pakistan and Saudi Arabia share common religious family values and looking after the elderly and patients by trained professional nurses will be a great work.”
He said his ministry with the help of the Overseas Pakistanis Ministry would ensure that nurses and paramedical staff learn the Arabic language so it is easy for them to get hired in the Kingdom.
The Saudi minister appreciated Pakistan’s Border Health Services initiative, saying it would also help other regions as well to meet global health security challenges.
Qadir Patel said that diseases had no borders, but to put some check and resistance “we need new scientific interventions like border health security services with a digital data bank of travellers crossing into Pakistani borders or leaving the borders for the security of other regions as well.”
Abdul Qadir Patel invited the Saudi health minister to visit Pakistan.
The Saudi minister said both Saudi Arabia and Pakistan were very close friends, and had strong brotherly and religious bonding.