ISLAMABAD: The government has constituted a ‘Task Force on Health’ with the task to evaluate the current status of healthcare in Pakistan give recommendations for bringing reforms in the largely-neglected health sector.
The Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations & Coordination has notified the task force on health which includes doctors of international prominence, with some of them coming from Shaukat Khanum Cancer Hospitals.
The terms of reference of the task force are to evaluate the current status of healthcare in Pakistan, in all its aspects, with statistical analysis, including but not limited to medical, dental, nursing and ancillary healthcare, and report its findings to the competent authorities.
The two components of the task force are health and nursing, consisting of eight and five members respectively.
The members of health component include Professor Nausherwan Burki, Shaukat Khanum Cancer Hospitals CEO Dr Faisal Sultan, Indus Hospitals CEO Professor Abdul Bari Khan, Shaukat Khanum Cancer Hospitals CMO Dr Asim Yusuf, Professor M Hamid Zaman from Boston University, USA, Latif Sheikh, Professor Zulfiqar A Bhutta, and federal health secretary.
The members of the nursing unit of the task force will include Shifa College Professor Dr Rasia Gul, Pakistan Nurses Association KP President and Lady Reading Hospital, Peshawar Director Nursing Shaheen Ghani, Rawalpindi NUMS School of Nursing Dean Professor Dr Rafat, Pakistan Nursing Council President Rehana Elahi, and federal health secretary.
