President Asif Zardari on Saturday showed the government’s commitment to cater to the health needs of the people urged the health-care providers to step up efforts to help alleviate sufferings of the ailing.
In a message on World Health Day, the president said Pakistan stood with the international community in raising awareness about the health challenges faced by the people.
He urged the health-care providers both in the public and private sectors, the non-governmental organisations, private entities, philanthropists, community leaders, media and other stakeholders to step up efforts in not only raising awareness about the health issues, but also in alleviating the sufferings of ailing human beings through improved diagnostic and therapeutic procedures.
The president said World Health Day was a reminder of the need to undertake concerted efforts in raising awareness and finding solutions to meet the growing challenges in the field of health in the fast paced world of today.
He said the rapid advances in science and technology and the massive transformation of socio-economic dynamics had drastically altered the way of life.
Zardari said technology and machines had brought new comforts but they had also generated new stresses resulting in new diseases for which effective and affordable remedies have to be found.
He said the growing health requirements of the people have outpaced the ability of the governments to keep pace. This had further compounded the problem, he added.
The president pointed that the theme for World Health Day this year focused on high blood pressure. He said hypertension had become one of the major causes of heart attacks in both the developed and developing countries of the world.
“We need to raise awareness about the precautionary measures to guard against the disease and at the same time explore new diagnostic and therapeutic procedures to combat it,” President Zardari said.
The president said he was pleased to learn that various activities and campaigns on this day will focus on raising awareness among the public about the causes and consequences of high blood pressure and also about how to combat it.