NWFP Governor Lieutenant General Ali Muhammad Jan Aurakzai (retd) formally launched the Primary Health Care Revitalisation, Integration and Decentralisation Project; a most modern approach to strengthen existing healthcare system in Mansehra on Tuesday.
The programme, commonly known as PRIDE Project, is expected to cost 29 million dollars, which is being funded by people of United States through USAID in this district; the worst-affected area by earthquake of 8th October 2005, and will be spread over for next four years.
Addressing a ceremony held at Thakra near Mansehra on Tuesday, the governor welcomed the good gesture from the people of US in the shape of this project, and said: "it rightly envisions a revitalised primary healthcare programme, providing affordable, sustainable, replicable and quality health services to the communities in the area.
The ceremony was also addressed by Provincial Minister for Health Inayatullah, Charge d'Affaires of Islamabad-based US Embassy, Peter Bodde, Project Director PRIDE Bruce Rasnussen and District Nazim Mansehra Sardar Muhammad Yousaf.
The governor paid rich tributes to the world community as well as the people of our own country for the prompt, generous and touching response to the catastrophe, and said it was because of this that no epidemics spread, which prevented further loss of life and property. He said that tragedy caused deaths of 75,000 human lives and leaving 1,60,000 injured while the financial losses ran into billions.
Referring to the objectives of the project, the governor said, it's aim was to improve human and financial resource management capacities; increase access to all the people; improve the quality of healthcare and create a demand for quality health services with special focus on involving the communities in this respect. These, he added, are very relevant and required features to address the existing situations.
The governor also pointed out that social sector development had always remained as a high priority on the government's agenda and it is quite conscious that improvements in health and education sectors were the two most important needs not only in earthquake affected districts but also for the entire country in general.
Keeping in view the number of new born, dying each year; the high maternal and infant mortality, he said such an approach to improve health out-comes and save lives, was not only require in this earthquake-suffered district but in the country as a whole.
NWFP Minister for Health Inayatullah Khan and District Nazim Mansehra Sardar Muhammad Yousaf, addressing on this occasion, highlighted the importance of the project towards strengthening of existing healthcare system in the district.
They also presented details of the existing state of affairs of healthcare services in the quake-affected district and assured their fullest cooperation to make the project a real success. Addressing on the occasion, US Charge d Affairs Peter Bodde presented a resume of the assistance being extended in the shape of relief as well as for rehabilitation activities in the quake-affected areas of Pakistan.
He said the PRIDE project was one such example and financial assistance would continue for the next four years, which would be the part of the overall US Aid to be extended to the country.
PRIDE Project Director Bruce Rasnussen and the Deputy Chief of the Party, Dr Waqar Ajmal highlighted the aims and objectives of the project and said that concrete strategies had been chalked out after detailed studies of the existing inside working position of the healthcare systems in the entire district.
Provision of better healthcare to the people, he added, was the basic aim of the project and involvement of communities at every level would be its unique feature.
In fact, he said, provision of better healthcare to each and every child and mother, to make better healthcare facilities accessible to each and every resident of the area and to strengthen the existing health system were the core objectives of the project.
In the first phase, it was added, a total of 30 health units of various categories in nine sub-divisions of District Mansehra would be taken over for implementation of the project. The ceremony, besides the parliamentarians from District Mansehra, was largely attended by elected representatives of local government institutions and elites of the city.