ISLAMABAD: Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar witnessed the memorandum of understandings (MoU) signing ceremony between Pakistan and the World Health Organization (WHO) for cooperation in Pakistan’s health sector.
The MoU was signed on behalf of Pakistan by National Health Secretary Iftikhar Shilvani and on behalf of WHO Country Director Dr Palitha Mahipala.
DG Health Dr Baseer Achakzai, in his remarks, said that universal health coverage for treatment was the first priority of the government and for that purpose, the issue of universal health coverage was discussed in the United Nations General Assembly. He said that universal health coverage had been introduced across the country.
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For this, the WHO in Pakistan is supporting us in providing medical equipment, ambulances and mobile units, labour rooms and improving primary and secondary health facilities.
He said the WHO had more than 450 centres in remote areas. It is providing treatment facilities including vehicles in health which will provide better health facilities to the people. After the MoU ceremony, the caretaker prime minister was given the keys of five ambulances, a mobile clinic, and two vaccination vans donated by the WHO.
Earlier, Dr Palitha Mahipala, the representative of the WHO in Pakistan met with the caretaker prime minister. The meeting was attended by the Federal Minister of Health, Dr Nadeem Jan, and the relevant senior officials.
The caretaker prime minister thanked the WHO and other partners for their support in the reforms in Pakistan’s health sector.
He acknowledged the initiative taken by the WHO for the upgradation of primary health centres in the whole of Pakistan, including Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir.
Mobile health clinics and ambulances donated by the WHO would bring basic health facilities to the doorsteps of common people, he added.
Kakar further stated that mobile health units were of key importance to deliver basic health services to people living in remote areas.
The caretaker PM said that basic health facilities were the right of every Pakistani and the government would ensure the common man’s access to them.
In the meeting, the prime minister was informed that the upgradation of 464 primary health centres in Pakistan was a mega project on which the work would be completed in a short period of two months.
The prime minister was further told that the mobile health units would not only provide basic treatment facilities to the people but under the digital system, those units would be connected to the central health system and would also be able to refer patients to major hospitals.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
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