شفیع الدین نیر
افسوس ہے انھی دنوں میں شفیع الدین نیر صاحب کا بھی۷۳برس کی عمر میں دہلی میں انتقال ہوگیا۔مرحوم اردو زبان کے بچوں کے نامور شاعراورادیب تھے، اس حیثیت سے انھوں نے نثراورنظم میں پچاسوں کتابیں لکھیں جو گھر گھر مقبول ہوئیں۔انھوں نے اپنی زندگی گورنمنٹ کے ماڈل اسکول میں اردو کے ٹیچر کی حیثیت سے شروع کی تھی۔ ڈاکٹر ذاکر حسین جن کو خود بچوں کے ادب سے دلچسپی تھی، اُن کو جب مرحوم کی صلاحیتوں کا علم ہواتوانھیں جامعہ ملیہ اسلامیہ لے آئے اورانھوں نے پوری زندگی یہیں بڑی وضع داری، شرافت اورمروت سے گزار دی۔تقسیم کے بعد اردو پر زوال آیا تومرحوم کی شہرت، مقبولیت اور ہر دلعزیزی بھی متاثر ہوئی جس کااُن کو طبعاً ملال تھا اوروہ اُس کااظہار بھی کرتے تھے۔ بہرحال اُن کی کتابیں بچوں کے ادب کی دنیا میں اُن کے بقائے دوام کی ضامن ہیں۔اخلاق وعادات کے اعتبار سے بڑے سنجیدہ ومتین لیکن دیندار اور خوش مزاج تھے۔اﷲ تعالیٰ مغفرت فرمائے۔ [مارچ۱۹۷۸ء]
Herbal medicines, complementary or alternative medicines is a wide term for the therapies that are not part of standard care but it has many theories regarding efficacy based on personal experiences, history and common knowledge. It has long been used since ancient times since the beginning of human civilization. Its use had caught much attention in the early 1800s, with the development in the science of chemistry, a new era in pharmacotherapeutics and the use of active chemical ingredients in plants which were known to produce favorable therapeutic effects, were explored, active compounds were extracted, purified and their structure was revealed. This advancement paved the way towards modern pharmaceutical therapy. The modern drugs are based on these herbal medicines, after extracting the active and pure chemical compounds. Pharmacokinetics and physicochemical properties of the active ingredients was explored. It lead to the better understanding of efficacy and safety profile of these drugs and first choice for treatment of various diseases. At the same time, the herbal medicines were considered as secondarily important. After approximately two centuries, the use of herbal medicines have seen a revival globally both in developing as well as developed countries. In the past few years, the practice of using herbal medicines as an alternative and complementary health medicine has gained more importance. Herbal medicines are common for treatment of various ailments including cancer, digestive disorders, pain related disorders, neuropathic ailments and cardiac arrhythmias etc. Even it has been used by pregnant females and mostly perceived as safe. Its use has gained more attraction due to its ‘natural’ approach and lesser side effects. Their use if often overlooked but physicians should pay attention to these medicines. There is lack of familiarity, standardization of the drug components, unproven therapeutic effects in various diseases, unexplored toxicology, pharmacokinetics, drug-drug interactions, and compatibility in patients with varying medical, genetic and demographic history. There are serious concerns regarding the safety, efficacy and quality of herbal products and nutraceuticals. Accidental contamination and deliberate adulteration are assumed to be the main cause of the side effects. Much of the herbal medical knowledge is scattered in different regions of the world and mostly available at family, community and local level and mostly in any native languages. There is need of coherent sources, knowledge, and exploration of these medicines across the world. The herbal medicine has varying diversity in different geological regions and they should be investigated. There should be a regional or national body to control and approve the herbal medicines. Proper documentations on these medicines and food supplements should also be done.
A participatory epidemiological (PE) study was carried out in the Tharparkar District of Sindh province, Pakistan, which is the only fertile desert in the world. The study was carried out to assess the association of the disease with animal production systems and its socio-economic impact. During participatory rural appraisal activities, sets of semi structured interviews, visualization techniques, ranking and scoring techniques were applied to collect qualitative and quantitative data. The study revealed that sheep and goat are reared without systemic housing. The average herd size was 30 head with a sheep and goat ratio of 1:2. Women have an important role in sheep and goat husbandry especially for feeding, watering, milking, and management of lambing/ kidding. It was concluded from the study that most low-income landless farmers are involved in sheep and goat raising, which played a significant role in their household economy and provided the main source of income. It was also accomplished that Peste des Petits Ruminants and other prevailing sheep and goat diseases are causing momentous negative impacts on food security and child nutrition with the enduring impacts including delays in marriages, postponement of surgery and other family health interventions as well as disruption of children education.