Promotion and strengthening of Primary Healthcare, functioning of BHUs,
RHCs & secondary care facilities should be their priority
KARACHI: The fourteen rupees per unit relief provided by the Government of Punjab to consumers of electricity from two hundred to five hundred units has sparked an interesting debate between the provincial governments of Sindh and Punjab which needs to be appreciated and encouraged as long as it remains constructive rather than political scoring. Any good job done by any Government in any province must be appreciated. This is the beauty of democracy, holding regular elections and also having different party governments in different provinces.
While Mr. Bliwal Bhutto offered a debate with Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif and asked Sindh Chief Minister to ensure that the Prime Minister visits hospitals like NICVD, JPMC during his visit to the province, Mr. Hanif Abbasi PML (N) member of the parliament from Rawalpindi has accepted the offer and said he will visit these hospitals and will also invite Mr. Bilawal Bhutto to visit Rawalpindi Institute of Cardiology and PKLI at Lahore to see the quality of services being provided to the people of Punjab.
Provincial governments must compete with each other in improving healthcare, social services, sanitation and sewerage facilities, provision of safe drinking water, public transport. In fact the top most priority of all the provincial governments should be to promote Primary Health Care, Housing, prevention of disease, health promotion, improvement of functioning of Basic Health Units, Rural Health Centers and other secondary healthcare facilities. Mere focus on State of the Art few hospitals is not going to solve our problems as providing primary angioplasty to patients coming with Acute Myocardial Infection will not prevent heart diseases. It is neither feasible, practical nor can we afford it. On the contrary health education, taking preventive measures, campaign against smoking, promoting use of healthy balanced diet and regular exercise are some of the issues which needs their attention.
Proper monitoring of the healthcare facilities, getting rid of ghost healthcare workers which are in abundance particularly in the province of Sindh, convincing the medical profession to organize their academic activities, conferences, workshops, symposia’s in medical institutions rather than five star hotels will all go a long way in improving the current state of affairs in health services. Give importance of nursing staff, paramedics and technicians which are all backbone of any healthcare delivery system, arranging refresher courses and training sessions for them, giving them due respect will also have a positive effect on improvement of health services.
When Government of Punjab introduced Metro Bus Service in major cities it came under lot of criticism from political parties and their opponents but it did provide transport facilities to the public with respect and dignity at highly subsidized rates. Eventually it forced the Government of KPK to start Metro Bus service and the Government of Sindh also took positive steps and provision of Peoples Bus Service in Karachi, special buses for female, start of Green Line with the financial assistance of Federal Government deserve appreciation. Work of some more Metro Bus Service facilities is in progress and this facility is also being introduced in other major cities of Sindh Province. The pace of progress and development may be a bit slow in Sindh as compared to Punjab but there is no denying the fact that Provincial Government of Sindh has taken some positive initiatives which must be appreciated. However, its failure to improve sanitation, sewerage facilities and provision of safe drinking water, drainage needs its attention.
Both Sindh and Punjab have taken steps to establish more medical universities and also encouraged private sector but the Government of KPK for reasons best known to them, has failed to give charter to any new medical Univesity despite the fact that some good institutions in the private sector are ready and fulfil all the criteria. Perhaps they are afraid of any competition which in fact must be encouraged which eventually results in improvement of public sector institutions. Eventually the province will suffer and its talent failing to find appropriate opening might leave the country. The government of KPK itself will be responsible for slow pace of development and progress in the field of medical education and health services. Development is rather much slower in Baluchistan due to terrorist activities it faces.
Instead of spending huge amount on constructing “Disease Palaces” the governments will be well advised to invest in improvement of primary healthcare which will pay rich dividends. Checking and eliminating quackery, unethical practices by the healthcare professionals and pharma industry is yet another area which needs their attention. They should also compete in reduction in corruption at all levels, provision of educational facilities and conditions of roads network in the cities as well as small towns. The provinces should also try to learn from each other, collaborate and share each other’s expertize in different areas for the good of the people which is in the interest of Pakistan. Improving governance, eliminating corruption at all levels which is rampant should also be one of their priorities. It is a pity that we have not been successful to eliminate Polio so far and apart from communicable diseases, now even Non-communicable diseases like hypertension, diabetes have become an epidemic and cancer is also increasing. Instead of complaining all the time, let us all do something and realize our own responsibilities as citizens of this country.
