The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has approved the revamping and reconstitution of health sector to curb preventive and curative diseases.
The package of these comprehensive reforms is based on the recommendations of the Working Group on Health Sector Reforms recently notified which constantly worked to take stake of the situation, particularly in view of the fact that the health profile of Pakistan in general and KP in particular was the lowest in the world.
The package of these and many more such reforms was approved in a meeting held under the chairmanship of KP Chief Minister Pervez Khattak to which PTI Chairman Imran Khan was also invited. KP Health Minister Shaukat Ali Yousufzai, PTI leaders Jahangir Tareen, Mushtaq Ghani, KP Health Secretary Dr Fakhre Alam and other officials of the Health Department and members of the Working Group were also present.
The reform package specifically addresses the issues of increasing maternal and infant mortality ratio and malnutrition. While on one hand the reforms focused on autonomy of tertiary hospitals, introduction and constitution of management and health coordination boards at the district level and the decentralisation of authority, it has equally addressed the lack of coordination among different tiers of the Health Department so that optimum performance is achieved at each and every level.
In specific terms the reforms included the reconstitution and revamping of the KP Health Foundation where non-official members will be increased, the KP Health Regulatory Authority, the Medical Health Institutions Law, the Social Health Protection Initiative, the establishment of Drug and Food Regulation Authority and the Health Sector Strategy.
With regard to the establishment of district health management boards, it will be started from the district health coordination boards by September 30 while terms of reference will be finalised on August 30.
Chief Minister Khattak directed officials to fill in all 250 vacancies of nurses and 450 vacancies of doctors.
He also directed drug inspectors to expedite their efforts against spurious and substandard medicines and if needed send him a summary for sanctioning of more posts of drug inspectors. In principle, the meeting also approved the establishment of an autonomous drugs testing laboratory.
Imran Khan said that issues like health should be taken above politics. He directed the officials concerned to revamp and reconstitute health service bodies.
The reforms also focus on proper training to different tiers of the personnel of health sector.
