Strategy afoot to make healthcare affordable: President
By Makhdoom Babar

ISLAMABAD—President General Pervez Musharraf on Wednesday said the government was working on a comprehensive strategy to provide primary healthcare to all and asked the pharmaceutical companies to bring down prices within the reach of common man.
Inaugurating the Health Expo 2006, showcasing Pakistan’s health sector, the President spoke of several initiatives the government had taken to provide healthcare to the masses. Medical practitioners, experts, and a large number of medical students and nurses attended the opening of the two-day event.
Musharraf said the government was transmitting the economic gains to all sectors including health. “We cannot achieve much unless we have a strong economy,” he said, referring to the increase in allocation for the health sector. The allocation for health sector in the federal and provincial budgets combined was up by about 300 per cent over the previous allocation, he said. “But this is not enough. We have to allocate more for the health sector and it will be done,” the President added. He pointed at the four key areas the government was addressing in provision of healthcare at primary and secondary levels. The government has revived the Basic and Rural Health Units and was ensuring that the doctors, medicines and equipment was available at these facilities.
He said the BHU’s and the Rural Health Centres cater to 70 per cent of the population and it was essential to do it. This, he added, will lower the load on the major hospitals. He said the salaries of the doctors at the BHUs has increased to Rs 25,000 and they were also being provided residence. He said in case of Punjab the performance of these centres will be regularly monitored through the Chief Minister’s Evaluation Cell.
“However we must improve the quality and post-operative care at the tertiary hospitals,” President Musharraf said and added that it can even draw patients from the entire region. The President identified the high incidence of water-borne diseases as an area of key concern and said the government was aiming at providing clean drinking water to the people by December 2007.
He said Rs. 7 billion have been allocated for this purpose and at least filtration plants will be provided at the Union level. He said since it was vital to regularly check the quality of water, the project was being implemented by the Ministry of Science and Technology under his direct supervision.
President Musharraf said the government was also addressing the area of high mother and child mortality rates and has increased the number of Lady Health Visitors to 96,000 to provide better health care at grassroots level.
Regarding immunization, the President said presently around 70 per cent of the area was being covered. He, however, directed the Ministry to ensure that the entire population was protected. He said only 33 cases mostly from the Afghan Refugee Camps were reported in Pakistan this year.