'Sports medicine should be part of health education'

ABBOTTABAD: An interactive session titled 'Can sports medicine really make a difference to an athlete's performance and improve the health of the nation' was recently held by the Department of Medical Education of Ayub Medical College, Abbottabad.
The event was presided by Prof Umer Farooq, Dean of Ayub Medical College. Associate dean and co-coordinator Dr Noaman Siddique also attended the event. The keynote speaker of the event was Dr Zafar Iqbal, who has been currently engaged with Crystal Palace Football Club, UK, as a consultant.

The event was attended by a number of orthopaedic surgeons, general surgeons and representatives of sports organisations.

While addressing the audience, Dr Zafar said, "Sports medicine is a specialised field that should be made part of health education in Pakistan.”He told that the response time to injury of any player was fixed at less than a minute and many lives of sportsmen had been saved especially in case of cardiac issues.

Dr Zafar Iqbal said in his presentation that due to specialised role of sports medicine the playing life of every sportsman could be increased with fewer chances of injuries which otherwise cost higher to the clubs and teams in case of losing the services of players.
Sports medicine helps to improve the strength of a player with a quicker reaction on the ground due to the selection of special diet and daily exercise plan for improvement of tissues of the body.

He stressed on proper training of coaches and physical trainers to deal with sports injuries.

-MN Report