Heroes of Pakistan: The Story of Dr. Abdul Rauf Janjua

Every individual is a star in the destiny of the nation — immortal tales of the Heroes of Pakistan.

On Independence Day, the great day of the battle of truth, a special meeting was held with the real heroes of Pakistan. On this day, tribute was paid to those unsung warriors who brought knowledge, research, and light to the nation.

Salute to heroes like Dr. Abdul Rauf Janjua, dreamers who awaken nations. Dr. Abdul Rauf Janjua is serving as an Associate Professor at Azad Kashmir University, Muzaffarabad. He is also the Head of the Research, Innovation, and Commercialization Office and the Director of the Business Incubation Center at the university.

Speaking about himself and his mission, Dr. Abdul Rauf Janjua said, “I received my early education at a village school, where I had to walk 12 kilometers daily.”

He completed his MPhil from the Center of Excellence in Molecular Biology, Lahore, and later earned a PhD from the School of Biological Sciences at Punjab University.

Despite financial difficulties, his father prioritized education and said, “Even if you have to break stones for a living, no one can take away your knowledge.”

“I worked on a potential new vaccine for Hepatitis B in Pakistan, and that discovery became ours. I rejected an offer of 850,000 PKR and joined Azad Kashmir University to address infections and unemployment issues in my region. We developed a five-dimensional model called ASTPR for Hepatitis B and C, including Awareness, Screening, Treatment, Prevention, and Research,” he stated.

He added, “So far, we have educated approximately 2.5 million people about Hepatitis and screened over 200,000 individuals, among whom 20,000 positive cases were treated. Through training healthcare workers at dialysis centers and complete package interventions, we limited the spread of the disease to just 9 infections out of 12,000 cases in 2021.”

He revealed, “Recently, I was honored to become part of Pakistan’s HCV Elimination National Program’s advisory and policy team.”

He further stated, “InshaAllah, our goal is to eliminate Hepatitis from the country by 2030. We promoted entrepreneurship in biology by resource mapping in Azad Kashmir and initiated multiple projects on honey bees, silkworms, trout, dairy, and medicinal plants farming.”

He concluded with the statement, “I believe we are not responsible for what others are doing; we are only responsible for what we ourselves do. The future of nations is made by those who stand as a beacon of hope in the darkness.”

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