Ronan Kelly
Retired 2020
Punjab to spend 4pc of GDP on health
Sunday, January 24, 2010
By By Our Correspondent
LAHORE
THE Punjab government has committed to enhance the health budget up to 4 percent from existing 0.7 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to improve health indicators as the country is lagging behind even Bangladesh regarding the health status of people in South Asia.
Addressing a seminar on ?Systemic issues in meeting health needs? organised by the Mir Khalilur Rahman Memorial Society in collaboration with the Systems Oriented Health Investment Program (SOHIP) here at a local hotel on Saturday, Chief Minister?s Task Force on Spurious Drugs Chairman Dr Saeed Elahi said that although Pakistan was at the last position in health indicators among South Asian countries yet the Punjab province was ensuring better health services to its people than other provinces. However, he said, threw was a need to improve planning for providing quality health services to people in the province.
Dr Elahi said Chief Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif had given top priority to the health and education sectors, which were earlier reeling with meagre allocation of 0.7 and 1.7 percent of the GDP respectively. Soon after taking oath of his office, Mian Shahbaz Sharif had raised the health budget up to Rs 27 billion, which had been targeted to be further raised up to 4 per cent of the GDP. He said the Punjab government had ensured provision of free medicines in government teaching hospitals and DHQ hospitals in the province. Medicines of up to Rs 3 billion in emergency wards alone and all kinds of surgeries as well as dialysis were also being ensured free of cost in all hospitals in the province, he said and added the Punjab government had also been setting up a cardiac hospital in Balochistan in addition to providing funds for health sector in its five districts.
Dr Abdullah Sumbal, Special Secretary Health, Punjab, said the Punjab Health Department had formulated a comprehensive policy to improve health services to people and it would be implemented in letter and spirit. ?We are trying to develop a system of health delivery with cooperation of various experts and donors because the lack of planning and proper system would even make the steps like provision of free medicines in the hospitals futile,? he said, adding that the new system had already been implemented in Pakpattan and Mianwali districts. He said that the emergency wards of the DHQ hospitals in five districts would also be upgraded in line with the emergency upgrade in Kot Khawaja Saeed Hospital.
Dr Sumbal said the government had allocated Rs 12 billion for development and Rs 22 billion for non-development health sector. In this connection, he said, the ACs and generators had been installed in all teaching and DHQ hospitals of the province. Dr Muhammad Aslam Chaudhry, Director General Health Services, Punjab, said several countries had excelled in health sector while following the development plans in health system in Pakistan, which reflected poor implementation of programmes in health sector at grassroots level in the country. He said the Punjab government was taking steps for prevention, control and treatment of diseases, saying that preemptive steps had also been taken to stop spread of various diseases like swine flu, bird flu and dengue fever. ?We are also focusing on mother and child health to reduce mortality rate,? he maintained and added that the federal government, in collaboration with four provinces, had started various programmes in health sector including AIDS, TB, malaria, diabetes, hepatitis B & C, psychiatric diseases, swine flu, bird flu, dengue fever.
?Presently, there is no shortage of resources but we are confronting with paucity of trained manpower to strengthen health sector in the province,? he said.
Dr Simon Azariah, Project Director CIDA-SOHIP, said the Punjab government had provided sufficient funds for health which showed its commitment towards the sector but still there was hardly any improvement in health issues tertiary, secondary and primary level. He said the SOHIP in collaboration with the CIDA had pointed out certain issues from planning, budgeting resources to implementation.
?The recommendations have been provided to the Punjab Health Department, which should be implemented forthwith,? he added.
Farasat Iqbal, Director Health Sector Reforms Programme, said the Punjab government had been giving incentives to medical personnel for serving in rural districts, whereas primary health structure was also being improved in the province.
?We have also started a Schools Health Programme to improve health of schoolchildren in the province,? he added.
Dr Talat Iqbal, EDO Health, Sialkot, criticised that development budget allocation of Rs 12 billion was not sufficient for 298 schemes, including those worth over Rs 1 billion, of health sector in the province.
?The development schemes initiated in health sector require up to Rs 55 billion for timely completion,? he said.
Mr Altaf, Programme Manager of Health Sector Reforms Programme, Abdul Haq Bhatti, Chief Planning Officer, Dr Arshad Usmani and others also spoke.
http://www.thenews.com.pk/print1.asp?id=220508
Sunday, January 24, 2010
By By Our Correspondent
LAHORE
THE Punjab government has committed to enhance the health budget up to 4 percent from existing 0.7 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to improve health indicators as the country is lagging behind even Bangladesh regarding the health status of people in South Asia.
Addressing a seminar on ?Systemic issues in meeting health needs? organised by the Mir Khalilur Rahman Memorial Society in collaboration with the Systems Oriented Health Investment Program (SOHIP) here at a local hotel on Saturday, Chief Minister?s Task Force on Spurious Drugs Chairman Dr Saeed Elahi said that although Pakistan was at the last position in health indicators among South Asian countries yet the Punjab province was ensuring better health services to its people than other provinces. However, he said, threw was a need to improve planning for providing quality health services to people in the province.
Dr Elahi said Chief Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif had given top priority to the health and education sectors, which were earlier reeling with meagre allocation of 0.7 and 1.7 percent of the GDP respectively. Soon after taking oath of his office, Mian Shahbaz Sharif had raised the health budget up to Rs 27 billion, which had been targeted to be further raised up to 4 per cent of the GDP. He said the Punjab government had ensured provision of free medicines in government teaching hospitals and DHQ hospitals in the province. Medicines of up to Rs 3 billion in emergency wards alone and all kinds of surgeries as well as dialysis were also being ensured free of cost in all hospitals in the province, he said and added the Punjab government had also been setting up a cardiac hospital in Balochistan in addition to providing funds for health sector in its five districts.
Dr Abdullah Sumbal, Special Secretary Health, Punjab, said the Punjab Health Department had formulated a comprehensive policy to improve health services to people and it would be implemented in letter and spirit. ?We are trying to develop a system of health delivery with cooperation of various experts and donors because the lack of planning and proper system would even make the steps like provision of free medicines in the hospitals futile,? he said, adding that the new system had already been implemented in Pakpattan and Mianwali districts. He said that the emergency wards of the DHQ hospitals in five districts would also be upgraded in line with the emergency upgrade in Kot Khawaja Saeed Hospital.
Dr Sumbal said the government had allocated Rs 12 billion for development and Rs 22 billion for non-development health sector. In this connection, he said, the ACs and generators had been installed in all teaching and DHQ hospitals of the province. Dr Muhammad Aslam Chaudhry, Director General Health Services, Punjab, said several countries had excelled in health sector while following the development plans in health system in Pakistan, which reflected poor implementation of programmes in health sector at grassroots level in the country. He said the Punjab government was taking steps for prevention, control and treatment of diseases, saying that preemptive steps had also been taken to stop spread of various diseases like swine flu, bird flu and dengue fever. ?We are also focusing on mother and child health to reduce mortality rate,? he maintained and added that the federal government, in collaboration with four provinces, had started various programmes in health sector including AIDS, TB, malaria, diabetes, hepatitis B & C, psychiatric diseases, swine flu, bird flu, dengue fever.
?Presently, there is no shortage of resources but we are confronting with paucity of trained manpower to strengthen health sector in the province,? he said.
Dr Simon Azariah, Project Director CIDA-SOHIP, said the Punjab government had provided sufficient funds for health which showed its commitment towards the sector but still there was hardly any improvement in health issues tertiary, secondary and primary level. He said the SOHIP in collaboration with the CIDA had pointed out certain issues from planning, budgeting resources to implementation.
?The recommendations have been provided to the Punjab Health Department, which should be implemented forthwith,? he added.
Farasat Iqbal, Director Health Sector Reforms Programme, said the Punjab government had been giving incentives to medical personnel for serving in rural districts, whereas primary health structure was also being improved in the province.
?We have also started a Schools Health Programme to improve health of schoolchildren in the province,? he added.
Dr Talat Iqbal, EDO Health, Sialkot, criticised that development budget allocation of Rs 12 billion was not sufficient for 298 schemes, including those worth over Rs 1 billion, of health sector in the province.
?The development schemes initiated in health sector require up to Rs 55 billion for timely completion,? he said.
Mr Altaf, Programme Manager of Health Sector Reforms Programme, Abdul Haq Bhatti, Chief Planning Officer, Dr Arshad Usmani and others also spoke.
http://www.thenews.com.pk/print1.asp?id=220508