RAWALPINDI, (Parliament Times) : The General Body Meeting of Pakistan National Heart Association PANAH was held on 13 January 2024 at Blue Lagoon Hotel Rawalpindi. Major General (R) Masud ur Rehman Kiani was elected as president PANAH and Sanaullah Ghumman as General Secretary for next three years. President of Allied Health Services and Chairman of Sweet Homes Mr. Zamrad Khan was the chief guest of the occasion. Former MPA Ms. Tahseen Fawad, Commissioner (Rtd) Abdul Hafeez, Dr. Abdul Qiyam Awan, General (Rtd) Ashoor Khan, DSP Sikandar Mirza, Ex-chairperson NCRC Afshan Tehseen Bajwa, PANAH members, and people from civil society participated. PANAH General Secretary Sanaullah Ghumman shared the performance of PANAH of the last 3 years. He said that PANAH conducted 167 seminars in the last 3 years which benefited 16000 people directly and 5 lakh people online. Conducted 37 sessions with youth, sensitizing more than 3600 students.
Conducted 18 sessions with scholars in which more than 1900 scholars were informed. In 27 sensitization sessions with health officials, 783 health officials were sensitized, 1500 people were directly benefited in 9 national and international conferences and more than 20 lakh people were informed online. . 8000 journalists were briefed in 200 media sessions resulting in more than 9000 articles and news stories in electronic and print media and participation in 36 talk shows. 2200 posts were made on social media which were seen by more than 1 crore people, 18 walks were conducted in which 6500 people participated. 1600 people were trained in 26 CPR training workshops. 11500 people were checked up in 18 medical camps and they were given free tests and free medicine. Apart from Pakistan, 8 medical campuses were also set up in Afghanistan, in which more than 6400 people benefited. Distributed food, medicines and masks to 4000 families at a cost of Rs 40 lakhs during Corona. Blankets and essential items worth 5 lakh rupees were sent to earthquake victims in Turkey.
PANAH conducted operations for 686 needy people at a cost of Rs.10,32,90,140. Panah has built coalitions for policy advocacy with women in health, civil society, religious leaders, teachers, students, formed a think tank with women from across the country, championed parliamentarians, government agencies, and policy makers. Together, 22 sensitization sessions were conducted with parliamentarians to convince them to increase taxes on harmful health items like tobacco and sugary drinks. Sensitized 65 parliamentarians in these sessions. 179 one-to-one sessions with policy makers, a pre-budget training session for parliamentarians to reduce the health risks of sugary drinks in the budget session Talk to raise taxes. 4 members of assembly discussed to increase the tax on sugary drinks in the budget session, as a result of which the tax on carbonated drinks was increased from 13% to 20%, juices and syrups, which had no tax before, were taxed at 20%.
Taxes on tobacco increased by 150% in 3 years. In these three years, 22686 people were educated through seminars and workshops. 22500 people were assisted through medical camps, disaster and treatment. More than 1 crore 20 lakh people were reached through social media platforms. In 6 international conferences, the message of asylum was conveyed to different countries of the world. The Global Health Advocacy Incubator, an international organization, has prominently featured Asylum Policy Victory on its website.
After that, the President PANAH presented certificates of excellence and shields to the members and staff members of PANAH for their outstanding services.
Election Commissioner for these elections were Squadron Leader (retd) Ghulam Abbas and Commissioner (R) Abdul Hafeez announced that for the next 3 years, Major General (retd) Masood ur Rahman Kiani is elected as the President of PANAH and Mr. Sanaullah Ghumman as General Secretary. He was congratulated them for their new responsibilities.
The elected president Panah Major General (retd) Masoodur Rahman Kiani thanked the members of the Panah for being entrusted with the responsibilities for one time. He said that with the efforts of PANAH taxes on tobacco and sugary drinks were increased but we will work for more taxes on these unhealthy items. Now our focus will be bakery items and ultra-processed foods.
AT the end, the Chief Guest, Zamrad Khan, administered the oath to the newly elected members. He said that the PANAH is working on a very great mission of serving humanity. He paid tribute to the performance of Masood ur Rahman Kiani and Sanahullah Ghumman and said that we stand with Panah in every way. Ms. Tahseen Fawad, Dr. Abdul Qayyum Awan and others in their respective addresses praised the work of the PANAH and wished the new team all the best to continue this good work in the future.
