Public health: All facilities to be provided at tehsil hospitals, says Saira Afzal

LAHORE:

The government wants to provide medical facilities at tehsil and district level, State Minister for National Health Services Saira Afzal Tarar said on Saturday.

She was speaking at the inauguration ceremony of the American Heart Association (AHA) Roll Out 2015 at the College of Physicians and Surgeons Pakistan (CPSP).

She said the presence of specialist doctors in rural areas was a right of the people. “It is our responsibility to ensure that no person is left without appropriate health and medical care. Our medical institutions are helping the government perform its duties in an efficient manner,” she said.

In his welcome address, CPSP president Zafarullah Chaudhry said that medical facilities could be improved through cooperation between the CPSP and the AHA.

CPSP senior vice president Khalid Masood Gondal said that in light of the new AHA published standards, the CPSP regional centre in Lahore would conduct workshops for raising awareness among its instructors. “After completion of the courses, the new AHA guideline will be implemented throughout the country,” he said. Prof Mahmood Ayyaz, Prof Abrar Ashraf Ali, Dr Ahmed Uzair Qureshi and Dr Zulfiqar briefed the participants about the course. “The CPSP is an accredited institution of the AHA. It is providing 85 per cent of the specialist cover in the country,” they said.

They said that the AHA provided training for emergency cardiac arrest, basic life support and advanced cardiac life support. They said these courses were now being conducted at the CPSP in Pakistan.The speakers said that the CPSP had conducted more than 1,000 workshops in the past seven years.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 29^th, 2015.