The Punjab health minister Dr Yasmin Rashid, while emphasizing the need of concrete and long lasting health policy, has said that focus on rural health centers was crucial for achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). She said this while addressing the inaugural session of consultative workshop on development of national health policy and provincial strategic framework, here Thursday. Provincial minister for Population Welfare Colonel Muhammad Hashim Dogar(Retd), secretary specialized healthcare Saqib Zafar, special secretary Muhammad Khan Ranjha, Dr Zulfiqar Bhutta, Dr Shagufta Zareen and eminent scholars were also present in the workshop.
Dr Yasmin said, "Pakistan was facing lack of health facilities, particularly rural areas were badly neglected in the past." She added, "Pakistan was facing double burden of diseases, the burden is higher in the poor, and many of the health condition can be controlled at relatively low cost intervention and best practices through primary and secondary care levels."
She said health system faces challenges of vertical service delivery structure in low performance accountability within the government, creating efficiency and quality issues. "Largely unregulated for quality care and pricing there was also duplication of services for the private sector, also the public sector is inadequately staffed and job satisfaction and work environment needs improvement" she regretted.
Dr Yasmin suggested that pyramid of medical facilities should be reversed and time has come to focus on rural areas with a fresh political will. "Prime Minister Imran Khan always worried about health facilities and he wanted to start the process of change with the improvement of health facilities," she said. She also mentioned the complications due to climate change and regretted that man himself was responsible for disturbing the Mother Nature. "Smog was an example of such complications" she concluded.
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