Planning Commission, Ministry of Science and Technology and GIZ organized a. Symposium on Financing and Quality of Healthcare Services in Pakistan in the Pearl Continental, Bhurbhan (Murree) on 25 and 26 of July, 2011. The symposium spanned two days and allowed participants an opportunity to share experiences and to interact jointly on a number of specific policy and technical issues.
The symposium rested on a range of learning modalities, with a focus on interactive activities, to maximize participant engagement, learning and capacity-building. Dr. Ghulam Asghar Abbasi, Chief of Health, Planning Commission of Pakistan, gave the opening remarks and Dr. Saba Gul Khatak member social sector Planning Commission of Pakistan Chaired and gave the Inaugural address. Key international and national speakers and experts like Dr. Sania Nishter, Dr. Matthias Rompel, Dr. Sameen Siddiqi, Dr. Ghulam Mohammad Arif, Dr. Pedro Saturno and Dr. JP Steinmann expressed their views on the occasion.
This symposium brought out the “what” and the “how” of the health service provision debate to explore how they can be aligned to improve value in delivery of health services. In addition the event also looked at a variety of institutional mechanisms and arrangements in social health protection schemes and how purchasers and consumers can use these to set incentives for providers to deliver quality in healthcare.