An MoU was signed between the Mardan Women University Mardan (MWU) and Dairy Science Park Peshawar (DSP). The DSP team comprised Dr Maryam, Dr Hafsa and Mr Bilal, headed by Prof M Subhan Qureshi Chief Patron. Prof Ghazala Yasmeen, Vice Chancellor MWU signed the document and was assisted by Mr Adnan Ahmad and teaching staff.
The Vice Chancellor appreciated the achivements made under the Dairy Science Park, especially the business incubation concepts and launching of Peshawar Meat as a model enterprenure. Prof Qureshi assured thier support to introduce biorisk management concpets into the microbiology program running at the University. The housewomen are exposed to the health hazards associated with food items, like meat, milk and eggs. The food value chain can provide self employment to the young women, like quails farming, rabbits farming, meat processing, cheese making, diagnostic laboratories and so on.
DSP and WUM would collaborate through “Biorisk Management and Women Entrepreneurship (BMWE)” for evaluating the biorisk factors associated with commercial farming, transportation, slaughtering, processing and marketing of livestock and poultry products and human health and veterinary clinical practices. The feasibility models and applied research conducted under the DSP would be shared with WUM for developing entrepreneurship for the young women. This would be targeted at achieving the two sustainable goals of DSP for self-employment of youth and hygienic food production for the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and FATA as #SDGAction9671 of the United Nations.
The collaboration will safeguard the health of students, biomedical professionals (including laboratory staff, public and animal health workers), and the community. Standards and legislative guidelines will be developed for farming and processing units and service providers as they relate to dangerous and/or infectious pathogens. Interdisciplinary linkages in bio-risk management will be strengthened. Educated women will be supported in the region for establishing livestock and poultry based entrepreneurship. Hands will be joined for responding to Sustainable Development Agenda of the United Nations through #SDGAction9671.
Strategy
- Training select faculty to implement the newly developed curriculum and to reach out to other universities to design, develop and implement similar curriculum to establish biorisk management curriculum and practices throughout the region
- Design, develop and implement outreach programs to train biomedical professionals in the field to handle dangerous samples
- Training of Senior level and middle level scientists, farmers, industry representatives, students and policy makers in biorisk management so that they can contribute to training and outreach
- Consultation among stakeholders on the issues related to zoonotic diseases, the food safety, trans-boundary diseases and losses to the farmers’ income
- Evaluation of the small and medium sized livestock and poultry farms for public health safety and devising modules for minimizing the relevant threats
Further reading
Picture Galley
