The Departmental Development Working Party (DDWP) of the Ministry of Health has approved nine projects worth of Rs 290.555 million on Wednesday in a meeting held under the chairmanship of the Secretary Health, Khushnood Akhtar Lashari.
The projects include "Upgradation of Nursing School at Federal Government Services Hospital" at a cost of Rs 39.927 million with the objective to provide improved teaching facilities to train about 200 nurses annually in these schools. The project will be completed within two years.
A project for "Establishment of National Resource Centre for Raw Materials of Traditional Medicine" at National Institute of Health (NIH) costing Rs 28.069 million was also approved. It is aimed at promoting cultivation/land propagation of medicinal and aromatic plants of therapeutic and commercial value, conducting feasibility studies for the cultivation of useful medicinal plants, and developing a national database of medicinal and aromatic plants.
Keeping in view the demand for a model Allergy Centre, the DDWP approved upgradation of Allergy Centre at the NIH at a cost of Rs 39.876 million to be completed within three years. Further, for safe disposal of hospital waste, two projects would be executed at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, Islamabad and Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, Karachi at a combined cost of Rs 62.686 million.
The DDWP approved in principle Rs 39.86 million "National Tobacco Control Programme" projects aimed at reducing exposure to smoke at all work places, public transport and public places through provision of specific guidelines. The project includes tobacco related diseases surveillance system.
Rs 39.747 million "Establishment of National Health Emergency Preparedness and Response (HEPR) Centre" was also approved to prepare disaster risk management plans for each level of health care facilities including management of mass casualties and epidemics in Islamabad.
Other projects include setting up a Federal Medical Centre at Lahore, Strengthening of Country Co-ordination Mechanism (CCM) for activities related to Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM). The ministry body directed that PC-I for all approved projects should be prepared immediately and presented before the next meeting of the DDWP for consideration.
It is worth mentioning that like every year, in the year 2007 too the Health Ministry set its goals but failed to achieve many like it failed to materialise to turn Pakistan into a polio-free zone and the AIDs control programme.
According to the UNAIDS report HIV/AIDS cases in Pakistan are on rise. The high prevalence of HIV among addicts who injected drugs, the country enjoys the notoriety of being a 'concentrated epidemic country' whereas in the past Pakistan was described as a 'low prevalence country'. The UNAIDS official showed deep concern over the unsatisfactory performance of National Aids Control Program.
Moreover, the current outbreak of Bird Flu in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) and Government's delayed disclosure and inappropriate steps to overcome the crisis has overcast performance of our Health Sector. There is no worth-mentioning instance regarding the up gradation of hospitals across the country including Islamabad.
Besides this the authorities are yet to implement its programme to provide the masses with iodised salt and fortified flour. Similarly, failure in programmes like mother-child care, hepatitis control and TB control have also become a question mark for the people in general.
To probe into the reasons behind unsatisfactory performance of the health sector in 2007, while contacted the officials of the ministry denied to answer saying that the department has successfully achieved its target for the year 2007.
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