ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and the United States (US) have vowed to continue close mutual partnership in the health sector to combat infectious and non-communicable diseases, reduce malnutrition, strengthen the primary healthcare system, expand quality health services across Pakistan, and support Pakistan’s recovery from the devastating 2022 floods.
This was stated by Abdul Qadir Patel, Federal Minister for National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination and Isobel Coleman, Deputy Administrator the US Agency for International Development (USAID), here on Thursday during the second stand-alone US-Pakistan Health Dialogue.
Patel said that the US has always extended full support to Pakistan in case of any natural calamity such as Covid-19, and the devastating floods of 2010 and 2022. He said that both countries will continue close collaboration in the health sector in future too. Both countries acknowledged their long history of bilateral partnerships in the health sector.
Coleman said that for decades, the United States has invested in Pakistan’s health sector benefiting millions of Pakistanis. The United States has extended technical and financial assistance for the provision of clean drinking water and sanitation services to more than 300,000 people across the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh provinces.
She said that the US has donated over 79 million safe and effective Covid-19 vaccines in partnership with COVAX; responded to outbreaks of HIV, typhoid fever, and other diseases in Pakistan; and delivered health services to nearly 11 million women and children over the past seven years.
Pakistan has been a strong partner in efforts to improve access to quality health services, increase budget allocations for health, and invest in infrastructure to meet the health needs of the people of Pakistan.
Through the Health Dialogue, the two governments are committing to work together in the ensuing years to help Pakistan continue to recover from the 2022 floods; strengthen maternal and child health and nutrition services; advance international health regulations and global health security; and combat infectious and non-communicable diseases.
The US remains committed to supporting shared priorities with Pakistan, including on immunisations, health security, and Pakistan’s national public health institute.
Both governments also resolved to continue deepening their bilateral partnership to address the health impacts of climate change and other environmental issues such as air quality and explore how those can be mitigated through the US-Pakistan Green Alliance – a framework to focus on food security, climate-smart agriculture, water management, and clean energy.
The delegations discussed the United States’ recent announcement of $ 16.4 million to combat malnutrition, as well as plans to invest $ 30 million in already approved FY 2022 resources via USAID programmes to support health sector programming in Pakistan. The delegations look forward to the US-hosted bilateral Health Dialogue in 2024.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
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