Too many cooks: Body formed to identify health issues in capital
There is presently no existing body to help coordinate service delivery
Health officials said that the lack of coordination and synchronisation among primary, secondary and tertiary healthcare centres were not only hampering effective delivery of health services, but also costing the national exchequer. PHOTO: AFP
ISLAMABAD:
A committee formed to identify health issues in Islamabad and submit a report to the prime minister within a month.
Prime Minister’s Special Adviser Khawaja Zaheer will be the convenor of the committee, while Islamabad Metropolitan Corporation Mayor Ansar Aziz and Capital Development Authority (CDA) Chairman Maroof Afzal will serve as committee members.
The health ministry had proposed setting up a board or an authority to merge the fragmented health facilities in the federal capital and improve health care service delivery.
Prior to the 18th Amendment, the health sector fell under the purview of a single authority, but after devolution, the system in the federal capital has become fragmented, with no supervising body, resulting in a hodgepodge of uncoordinated health services.
The current health system in rural and urban areas of Islamabad Capital Territory (ITC) is out-of-sync with regulatory bodies.
Health units and hospitals are functioning under different authorities, departments and ministries.
There is no coordination between Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD), the Capital Development Authority (CDA), the Cabinet Division, the National Health Services Regulation, Coordination (NHSRC), the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) and the ICT chief commissioner.
The breakup shows that 14 basic health units and three rural health centres are functioning under the ICT Administration, while three tertiary hospitals — Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), Polyclinic and the National Institute of Rehabilitation and Medicine — are under CADD, and the CDA Hospital and dispensaries are under the civic agency. A hospital at H-11 is managed by the PAEC.
Health officials said that the lack of coordination and synchronisation among primary, secondary and tertiary healthcare centres were not only hampering effective delivery of health services, but also costing the national exchequer.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 3rd, 2016.
A committee formed to identify health issues in Islamabad and submit a report to the prime minister within a month.
Prime Minister’s Special Adviser Khawaja Zaheer will be the convenor of the committee, while Islamabad Metropolitan Corporation Mayor Ansar Aziz and Capital Development Authority (CDA) Chairman Maroof Afzal will serve as committee members.
The health ministry had proposed setting up a board or an authority to merge the fragmented health facilities in the federal capital and improve health care service delivery.
Prior to the 18th Amendment, the health sector fell under the purview of a single authority, but after devolution, the system in the federal capital has become fragmented, with no supervising body, resulting in a hodgepodge of uncoordinated health services.
The current health system in rural and urban areas of Islamabad Capital Territory (ITC) is out-of-sync with regulatory bodies.
Health units and hospitals are functioning under different authorities, departments and ministries.
There is no coordination between Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD), the Capital Development Authority (CDA), the Cabinet Division, the National Health Services Regulation, Coordination (NHSRC), the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) and the ICT chief commissioner.
The breakup shows that 14 basic health units and three rural health centres are functioning under the ICT Administration, while three tertiary hospitals — Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), Polyclinic and the National Institute of Rehabilitation and Medicine — are under CADD, and the CDA Hospital and dispensaries are under the civic agency. A hospital at H-11 is managed by the PAEC.
Health officials said that the lack of coordination and synchronisation among primary, secondary and tertiary healthcare centres were not only hampering effective delivery of health services, but also costing the national exchequer.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 3rd, 2016.