About 30 percent mortality rate can be reduced by breast feeding of the new-born babies during first six months of their life, as body temperature of mothers protect the new-born from pneumonia and other diseases. This was stated by the speakers in a seminar on the importance of breast feeding held here at Punjab Cultural Complex on Monday.
Speaking in the seminar, secretary health Punjab Mohammad Jehanzeb Khan said that Lady Health Workers are playing a pivotal role in promoting different health programmes in Punjab and the government acknowledges their services. He said the main cause of diseases among pregnant women and children is malnutrition. He said that Lady Health Workers convey the health message door to door to protect the society from the diseases and guide the women what to eat to overcome their nutritional needs.
He assured that solid steps would be taken for resolving their problems and timely payment of their salaries. He said that Lady Health Workers are the backbone of healthcare delivery system and they are successfully highlighting the importance of breast feeding to the children among the mothers. He said that Lady Health Workers are playing an effective role in promoting public health among the masses. He assured that government would take concrete steps for their welfare.
Addressing the seminar, UNICEF representative Dr Tahir Manzoor, Professor Nosheen Aziz and Provincial Co-ordinator LHWs Programme Dr Akhtar Rasheed Malik highlighted the importance of breast feeding in the health of new-born baby. They called for promoting the habit of breast feeding among mothers, as it protects the new-born from various diseases.
Provincial Co-ordinator LHWs Programme, Dr Akhtar Rasheed Malik lauded the services of Lady Health Workers during the last year'ss worst-ever flood in Punjab. Later, secretary health attended co-ordination meeting with the stakeholders involved in AIDS response organised by the Punjab AIDS Control Programme in collaboration with UNAID at a local hotel.
The objective of the meeting was to bring together the stakeholders to review current situation of HIV, identify priority areas, challenges, gaps and propose future strategic response in the province. While addressing the gathering, secretary health highlighted the commitment of the government for prevention and treatment of AIDS. He said that government has allocated Rs 198 million as compared to previous year's allocation of 73 million for this purpose. The commitment of the government is also reflected in the award of contracts for service delivery projects for Most-At-Risk-Population in seven districts, he added.
Jehanzeb Khan further said that AIDS is a serious problem and consolidated efforts are needed to tackle this menace. He said that government is taking concrete steps for controlling this menace and providing healthcare facilities to the affected persons.
He also endorsed the concept of formation of provincial Think Tank for AIDS Response and need for an Inter-Provincial Co-ordination Mechanism for AIDS Control in the post-devolution scenario.
The meeting was also addressed by the Country Co-ordinator of UNAIDS Ossama Tawail, Provincial Programme Manager of UNAIDS Dr Nasir Sarfraz, Director Punjab AIDS Control Programme Dr Salman Shahid and other representatives of NGOs working in this field. The participants put forward various proposals and strategies for AID response in Punjab.
Further, a spokesman of health department has said that the department is fully aware of the present status of dengue cases in Punjab while preventive measures are also being adopted from 1st July in all the districts at district.
The spokesman said that secretary health chaired a number of meetings with all EDOs (H), medical superintendents of public sector hospitals and issued necessary instructions to adopt measures for eradication of dengue and malaria. The spokesman further said that a number of review meetings have also been held for this purpose. He said that spray and fogging in all districts has been started and reporting, monitoring and surveillance of all the communicable diseases is being done on daily basis by provincial office.
He said that up to 1st August 2011 a total of 43 cases of dengue fever were reported out of which 32 were reported in Lahore, 2 in Sheikhupura and one each in the districts of Attock, Kasur, Sargodha, Sahiwal, Sialkot, AJK, Layyah, Jhang and Bhakkar. There is no need to panic as the health department is monitoring the situation and preventive measures have been adopted, concluded the spokesman.