PROF. DR. ZIA UL HAQ (DEAN IPH&SS) / Vice Chancellor KMU

Message from the Dean IPH&SS (Vice Chancellor KMU)

 

Dr Zia Ul Haq is the first ever Professor of Public Health at Khyber Medical University (KMU). He is also the youngest Professor & Dean of Public Health & Social Sciences KMU. He has more than 15 years of teaching and administrative experience in health sciences. He earned his PhD in the field of public Health from the University of Glasgow under Government of Pakistan Scholarship and is a principal investigator of several large ongoing studies. He played important role in implementing family medicine approach, elderly care, obesity interventions, and establishing regional public health reference lab at KP, Pakistan. He is a technical member on the majority of health committees as a public health specialist and currently working as the core member of Health Policy Advisory Committee to the Minister of Health KP and task force on Health & Wellbing. He is honored with several awards for his services in the field of Public Health.

KMU is the only public sector medical university in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), which was established in 2007 under the Khyber Medical University Act, 2006. It has a technical and territorial jurisdiction throughout KP and Merged Tribal Districts, therefore all under and postgraduate public and private sector medical and allied health institutes/colleges/programs are either affiliated with KMU or its constituent bodies. Health department KP is the administrative department of KMU and its attached constituent institutes. Institute of Public Health & Social Sciences (IPH&SS) is the first ever constituent institute of KMU, established in December 2008 under the Faculty of Public Health & Social Sciences. The institute was enriched with competent full-time faculty members and further strengthened after the joining of 06 PhD scholars, and 02 family physicians from the highest ranking universities of the UK, Austria, Germany and USA. They are engaged in epidemiological research, clinical research, preventive services and human resource development. The institute has recently shifted to her new purposely built campus at Phase V, Hayatabad, Peshawar. Currently, IPH&SS is the only institute of the faculty of Public Health but in the near future we may have two more institutions including the Institute of Family Medicine and the institute of Mental Health & Behavourial Sciences.

Our commitment to public health is broad and multidisciplinary comprising of exceptional teaching standards, research project opportunities and practical implementation of best public health solutions. IPH & SS is home to a lively and diverse academic community that personifies experiences and standpoints from teaching faculty from around the world.

We have come a long way in 13 short years, from increasing our student’s strength, growing our research inventiveness, launching new Masters Degrees, diplomas and certificate programmes within various Public Health areas. The first ever programmes in the province such as PhD in Public Health program and our cutting-edge diploma in family medicine which expands the public health approach by uplifting primary health care staff and systems.

The students of IPH & SS have variety of prospects regarding their professional careers during their training such as conducting research with faculty members, working in projects that have been gained by IPH & SS, attending national and international symposiums, to conduct laboratory applications and do training in Public Health Reference Lab at KMU. In addition, the faculty provides opportunities for extracurricular social activities as a part of the education process.

Furthermore, IPH & SS exclusively offers their students to take part in ‘Student & Staff Exchange Programme’ with Nanjing Medical University, School of Public Health wherein bilateral agreements have been signed by both the distinguished faculties. Faculty of Public Health KMU under the leadership of Dean Public Health enjoys a wonderful working relationship with WHO, WFP, ICRC, GIZ, UNFPA, HEC-Pakistan, UK funding agencies, DFID, John Hopkins University USA, Agha Khan University Karachi, Department of Health KP, Ex FATA Health directorate Peshawar, Population welfare department KP and Ministry of Health, Islamabad and has completed several projects together.

This year we conducted our first ever Public Healtrh Conference at KMU in collaborarion with Public Health Association KP and Department of Health. With renown international guest speakers and researchers from all over the world including Oxford and Keele University UK, Nanjing Medical University China, public health experts from Iraq, Yemen, WHO, UNICEF, UNAIDS, ICRC and Public Health Association KP and UK, and Department of Health. This conference aimed to serve as an international forum for the exchange of knowledge and experiences on key public health issues, contributing towards advancing public health in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan and the world. A full day 27th February was dedicated to the hands-on workshops by renowned national and international experts and 28th February for Conference proceedings. All health-related institutions and departments took full advantage of this learning opportunity.  Minister of Health KP himself presented the first ever Health Policy of KP.

 

With this brief introduction and future plans, I warmly welcome you all to Khyber Medical University Faculty of Public Health & Social Sciences!