MEDICAL FRATERNITY: Executive panel of Pakistani Doctors Group poses for photo with Acting Pakistan Ambassador Muhammad Sarfaraz A. Khanzada (fourth from left) on the occasion of the PDG event in Riyadh. (AN photo)

RIYADH: Dr. Majdy M. Idrees, chief of pulmonary medicine at Riyadh Military (Al-Kharj) Hospital, said that the incidence of asthma cases is on the rise and has assumed alarming proportion in the Kingdom.

“The rate of growth of this disease is very alarming with its prevalence rates currently exceeding 20 percent of our population in certain regions of the Kingdom,” he said while speaking at a medical symposium organized by the Pakistan Doctors Group (PDG), here recently.

The event was attended by Dr. Nahar Al-Azemi, executive director for academic and training affairs at King Fahd Medical City (KFMC), who was also the chief guest on the occasion. Sarfraz S. Khanzada, acting Pakistani ambassador, also attended the event.

Mubashar Kharal, chairman of medical safety at King Abdulaziz Medical City; Arif Hussain, PDG president; Riaz Khawaja, PDG vice president; Akram Khan, academic secretary, Bader Jamil, adviser; Amer Sheikh, general secretary; Irshad Afzal, joint secretary; Naveed Khawaja, finance secretary; and Tanweer Aziz, social secretary; were also present besides a large number of Saudi and Pakistani doctors.

Referring to the growing prevalence of asthma in Saudi Arabia, Idrees said that the pollutants discharged by automobiles and junk food could be behind the rapid rise of asthma and allergies among children. “I would like to advise people to increase their awareness about the disease and take preventive measures,” he added. He called for an intensive nationwide campaign against asthma.

In another presentation, Dr. Kharal spoke about the diabetic dyslipidemia. He said that although the degree of glycemia in diabetic patients is strongly related to the risk of microvascular complications, the relation of glycemia to macrovascular disease in diabetes is more modest. The presentation was followed by a question and answer session in which male and female doctors participated.