News
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Zardari stresses upgrading medical institutes* President says govt gives top priority to provision of medical care to people
* Says brain drain of doctors a big challenge
Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: There is an urgent need for upgrading the existing medical institutions and facilities to meet the growing demands for access to quality medical care, President Asif Ali Zardari said on Friday.
During a meeting held at the Presidency, the president said since health has now become a provincial subject, there was need for more active participation of all the concerned to complement government efforts in ensuring better health facilities to the people.
Those who were present in the meeting included Ministry of Health Director General Dr Asad Hafeez, Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PM&DC) President Professor Dr Syed Sibtul Hasnain, PM&DC Vice President Professor Dr Asim Hussain, College of Physicians and Surgeons of Pakistan President Zafarullah Chaudhry, spokesperson to the president Farhatullah Babar and others.
Briefing the media, spokesperson to the president, Farhatullah Babar, said that Zardari, during the meeting, said that the present government attaches top priority to the provision of all possible medical care to the people, especially to those in far-flung and under-developed areas.
He said that improvement in the health sector could not be achieved without the active participation of all stakeholders, including the federal and the provincial governments, and called upon every stakeholder to compliment the government’s efforts in this regard.
The president said that it was a matter of concern that the required doctor-patient ratio was yet to be achieved. This, he remarked, was mainly due to the lack of adequate medical colleges and universities and the demand of the local doctors to go and practice in foreign countries.
Zardari also recalled his meeting with a delegation of the Sindh Medical College where he had advised the provincial government to consider the possibility of starting double shifts and evening classes in medical colleges with the view to make optimum use of the existing infrastructure facilities.
He said that the brain drain of doctors was a big challenge in the country and called for taking necessary measures to reverse the trend by offering doctors reasonable packages, timely promotions and other benefits.
President Zardari said that our talent in the medical field, especially in nursing, was acknowledged worldwide and we need to take maximum advantage of this. He recalled his meeting with Portugal Prime Minister Jose Socrates on the sidelines of the World Future Energy Summit, 2011, and emphasised upon the training of nurses for export to European countries, Japan and the Middle East. This will create new job opportunities for our people and also bring good name to the country, Zardari said.
It may be recalled that during the president’s visit to Abu Dhabi, Pakistan and Portugal had decided to set up a joint task force to examine the possibility of exporting trained nurses to Portugal, he said.
The president also assured all out support of the government to the doctors community and reiterated the government’s commitment for the improvement of health conditions particularly the provision of adequate health facilities to the poor strata of society.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk