Health Secretary Hassan Iqbal has ordered that director level officers should be nominated as third parties to evaluate the performance of the Extended Programme of Immunisation (EPI), along with District and Tehsil Headquarters (DHQ and THQ) Hospitals and Health Centers.
Iqbal directed that every officer should furnish a monthly performance report of his section, and warned that he will not spare anyone who provides wrong information on his section.
He issued these directions while presiding over a high level meeting of Punjab Health Department programme directors and senior officers at Director General Health Services on Monday. Those in attendance included Health Director General Dr Tanvir Ahmad and directors of Punjab AIDS Control Programme, TB DOTS programme, Maternal Neonate and Child Health (MNCH) programme, Lady Health Workers programme, Food & Nutrition programme, dengue control, EPI, CDC and others.
Iqbal said that, due to the recent heavy rains, there is a chance of dengue mosquitoes breeding at a large scale, necessitating a focus on dengue control by the Health Department. He said that a Dengue Day should be observed this month, and a vigorous awareness campaign should be launched through the media. Iqbal also directed health education stalls to be organised for religious and cultural occasions, including the festivals on Urs, to promote health education among the masses.
At the meeting, Iqbal also directed officers to adopt the habit of working on their own, and said that there should no need to keep reminding them of their duties. He said that, while visiting various district hospitals, he had observed that many Health executive district officers (EDOs) had not visited the facilities in their respective districts for the last six months, and that they were not aware of the needs of DHQ, THQ hospitals and Health Centers in their areas. In the future, he said, every EDO Health will be responsible for these activities in his respective district and should be conducting field visits to review the state of things.
Iqbal said that the Punjab Health Department has a large workforce and it is the responsibility of the officers to utilise this human resource in a befitting manner. He said that guidelines for the strengthening of primary healthcare system have been prepared, and directed the Health director general to call a meeting of all Health EDOs so that they could be briefed on these guidelines to ensure effective implementation. Iqbal also added that, due to the flooding situation in the province, all the Health Department officers should be reachable by telephone, even on holidays, and should not leave their station without prior permission.
