Donors laud K-P health dept’s performance

PESHAWAR: International donors, including Britain’s Department for International Development (DFID) and DFID-funded Technical Resource Facility Plus (TRF+), have expressed satisfaction on the overall performance of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s Health Department, according to a statement issued on Saturday.

They also appreciated improved healthcare service delivery in primary healthcare facilities, including basic health units and rural health centres, across the province.

The meeting was held in Islamabad the other day to review the progress made over the past six months. The health department’s team was led by Senior Minister for Health Shahram Khan Tarakai.

According to a detailed report, based on real-time data collected by independent monitoring units about staff availability, equipment, medicines and other facilities in these health units was shared with officials of the international donor agencies. They were informed that there had been 70% improvement in the provision of healthcare services.

Officials of the Empowerment Voice and Accountability for Better Health and Nutrition, another DFID-run programme, also confirmed the occurrence of positive changes at primary health facilities in the province.  Addressing the participants, Health Minister Shahram Tarakai said the provincial government had put the province’s health system on the right track, adding that there had been an unprecedented improvement in the health department over the past six months.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 16^th, 2016.