Dear Colleagues,
Assalamon-Alaikum, ( May ALLAH Keep You Safe )

Department of Plastic Surgery,Services Institute of Medical Sciences/Servcices Hospital,Lahore , Department of Microbiology, University of Health Sciences,Lahore, School of biological Sciences and Honey Bees Research Institute, Punjab University,Lahore invite You to the second international conference on “ Medicinal Uses of Honey” from Nov.10-12,2008.
The idea behind the conference is to share and exchange Knowledge, Research and experience and to promote use of Honey in a wide spectrum of diseases. Following topics will be discussed by internationally renowned speakers.

Honey, The Natural Healer and The best medicine
Past, Present and Future of Honey in modern medical Science
Can Honey reduce Insulin Resistance, Obesity and Diabetes Mellitus?
Honey Dressings in Burn Patients
Use of Honey in Diabetic Foot
Antibacterial properties of Honey
Are we losing fight against multi-drug resistant microbes?
Honey as probiotics and prebiotics
Antioxidant properties of Honey
Comparison of different floral Honeys with regard to MIC values against common pathogens
Bees and Bee’s Products
Bee Flora and its Biodiversity
Use of Honey and Transfer Factors in Cancer and Degenerative Diseases
Honey use as Cough Suppressant
Honey Use for Restorative Sleep
Honey Use for Cognitive performance and Memory
Honey as adjuvant to Chemotherapy

Honey is a natural product, produced by Honey Bees from nectar and pollen of flowers prevalent in that particular area. So the honey’s color, taste and smell vary in different parts of the world. So far more than 300 types of Honey have been found.
Honey is produced by bees as food for themselves but the major use is by the humans. Honey is one of the healthy food product having readily assimilable sugars, as these have already been digested by the Bee’s intestinal enzymes.

Honey has been used as food sweetener, for its nutritive and medicinal properties. Honey has been used for times immemorial as traditional remedy for many ailments. However may researchers and scientists now have carried out enormous number of clinical trials, proving the benefits of honey as an effective therapeutic agent. Honey is being used extensively to augment immune responses in patients on chemotherapy, to promote restorative sleep, reducing insulin resistance, control of diabetes mellitus & obesity, as cough suppressant, help in cognitive performance and memory, in delayed/non healing wounds, infected wounds, diabetic foot, gastric ulcers, sore throat, radiation mucositis ad ocular infections. Honey is being used by many ENT Surgeons, Dento-maxillo- facial surgeons and also by the dermatologists for many many ailments.
The first International Conference on Medicinal Uses of Honey was held at Kota Bharu, Kelantan, Malaysia, under the patronage of University Sains Malaysia from Aug.26-28, 2006.This Conference was the first sincere effort to break the hard frozen ice about use of Honey in human ailments. There was a real variety of speakers from all around the globe, to discuss and share their experience about the medicinal uses of honey.

At the concluding ceremony, it was decided unanimously that the next conference will be held at Lahore-Pakistan in 2008.We are trying our level best to organize this event by requesting and attracting a galaxy of international speakers. The emphasis is to develop and provide a platform for western and eastern scientists so as to promote the use of honey on real scientific grounds in different diseases.
Please visit the official website “www.honeyconference .com” It will provide all information about the conference events, abstract submission, Travel arrangements, Registration fees, social program, city tour and accommodation/ hotel arrangements.
Please pass on this information to all colleagues interested in honey use in human diseases. We are anxiously waiting for your guidance and suggestions

With Warm Greetings from Lahore, Pakistan

Ghulam Qadir Fayyaz

Secretary Organizing Committee
Associate Professor Plastic surgery
Services Institute of Medical Sciences/
Services Hospital, Lahore, Pakistan
Email:- gqfayyaz@hotmail. com
Mobile:- 0092+321+4430561
Fax:- 0092+42+5164932

Kindly note that Department of Community Health Sciences (CHS) of Aga Khan University (AKU), Karachi, Pakistan is pleased to announce its short course on Community-Based Social Development for Women’s Empowerment (CBSD-WE) scheduled from April 7 – 26, 2008. This course is part of CHS’ Continuing Education Programme. Course information is given below for your reference. For course registration form please write to us.

Goal of the Course:
This course is designed to provide an understanding of the interplay between the determinants of health and development, self-awareness, and the importance of participatory methods in community mobilization and empowerment.

Course Objectives:
By the end of the course, the participants would be able to:
1. Understand the essential concepts and dynamics of social change.
2. Understand the essential features of participatory methodology, and its applications for facilitating social change.
3. Become aware of the relevance of self-development and importance of communication skills for community development.
4. Be able to critically engage with the different dimensions of empowerment in development
5. Become familiar with theory and research in the field of gender studies

Medium of Instruction:
Medium of instruction of the course is English. Participants are expected to be proficient enough to comprehend, and read and write in English language. However, flexibility is maintained in view of the purpose of the course, which is to advance critical understanding of development and its processes, and to acquire certain skills for facilitating people-centered and gender sensitive development. The learning environment created for this purpose allows the participants to converse in their own language. If needed and agreed by the participants, translations in other languages are also provided in the plenary sessions. For a collective learning process, such negotiations have been found to be useful, and in keeping with the participatory approach of the course, especially since one of the learning objectives is to introduce the participatory approach to the participants.

Teaching Method:
The entire course uses the workshop method, with minimal lecture sessions. Great emphasis is placed on experiential learning, and participants are required to monitor their own learning. Participatory tools for reflection and analysis, simulation-games and exercises will be used.

There is equal emphasis on individual and collective learning. Participants will be required to verbalize as well as write out their feelings and thoughts and to share them in small and large groups.

A significant feature of the course is a week of residential training in Participatory Reflection and Analysis (PRA) in an urban/rural area.
Tuition Fees:
The course tuition fees is Pak Rs. 24,200.00 (US$ 405.00) per participants, which covers classroom instructions, course material, refreshments, simple lunch during working hours, and boarding & lodging facility during one week of PRA workshop.

Travel, boarding and lodging during the course period (except PRA component), and self-care arrangements will be the responsibility of the participant( s) or their parent organization( s).

Deadline to Receive Applications:
We look forward to have participation from your intuition in this course. Kindly send brief CV along with filled registration form of the desired candidates latest by March 10, 2008 to Mr. Amin Hirani, Senior Programme Officer, Continuing Education Programme, Community Health Sciences Department. His e-mail address is: amin.hirani@ aku.edu and telephone contact is 4864839).

Course Director
Dr Agha Ajmal
Assistant Professor
Tel: (092-21) 4864853
Email: ajmal.agha@aku. edu

Please feel free to contact us for any further information you may need about the course.

Best regards,

Nadira Ashraf
Senior Assistant Manager
Educational Administrative Support Unit
Department of Community Health Sciences
Aga Khan University
Stadium Road, PO Box 3500 ,
Karachi 74800 , PAKISTAN.
Tel: (092-21) 4864802, 4864811
Fax: (092-21) 4934294, 4932095
E-mail: nadira.ashraf@ aku.edu