ISLAMABAD: Minister for Planning Development and Reforms, Professor Ahsan Iqbal here on Friday said that under the prevailing circumstances country only needs industrial revolution and long march for economic revival.
He was addressing a round table conference on "Improved access to health services", organized by Young Development Fellows (YDF) of Planning Commission of Pakistan.
The minister stressed the need for strengthening, stabilizing democratic political system and continuity in developmental policies for long term, to achieve the desired results of these policies and reforms.
He said that YDF was an initiative of Planning Commission under which the youth were engaged to generate fresh ideas to take the country towards progress and development.
Ahsan Iqbal said that in age of quality human resources, when it determined the phase of development, social sector of country was weak and among in the club of least developed countries which was a national dilemma.
He further said that to join the race of developed countries" we need strong legs by providing them better health care facilities, eliminating poverty and inequalities from the society.
He further said that during the 35 years of martial law in the country, social sector was badly neglected and less expenditure of 0.8 percent and 0.4 percent were made in health, education and other civic facilities.
The minister said that government was trying to bridge these gaps and had allocated funds to enhance the out reach of health care facilities adding that it had launched Rs12.5 billion communities based social sector development programme to achieve the millennium development goals (MDGs).
He said that health sector in the country was facing different co-related challenges including poverty, water contamination and environmental hazards lake of preventive health care facilities.
The state of health care facilities in rural areas was deteriorating and it was facing the shortage of the paramedics and other trained staff to operate the available equipments.
Ahsan Iqbal said that the government has announced health insurance scheme to provide quality health care facilities to common men in the country and called upon the government, academia and civil society for pooling their efforts to make the country economically strong by providing quality human resource.
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