Healthcare may work under one board

Health ministry says rules for hiring directors sent to FPSC for approval

ISLAMABAD: In a bid to consolidate workings by all healthcare departments in the capital, the government is mulling a plan whereby they will operate under one umbrella board which will be controlled by a single ministry, in a move which is expected to be implemented over the next few months.

The Minister for National Health Services Regulations and Coordination Saira Afzal Tarar told the National Assembly Standing Committee on National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination on Thursday that Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi had recently held a meeting of all the concerned ministries under which various health-related departments operate. The meeting, she said, had decided to bring all health departments under one ministry.

The decision, Tarar explained, was aimed at removing institutional anomalies, redundancies, overlaps and addressing service delivery problems afflicting the public health care structure in Islamabad Capital Territory.

A meeting of the parliamentary committee was held with Dr Hafeezur Rehman Drishak in the chair. It was briefed on the workings and performance of the Ministry of Health and its attached departments.

Health Additional Secretary Ali Shahzada said that owing to the absence of service rules, there several posts of directors at the ministry which were vacant.  However, the ministry has now drafted a set of rules which have been sent to the Federal Public Service Commission for approval. These posts will be advertised in the media once the rules are approved.

The committee also discussed but deferred “The Prohibition of Smoking and Protection of Non-Smokers Health (Amendment) Bill, 2017”, introduced by MNA Dr Nikhat Khan.

The bill was deferred as the committee decided to hear versions from the Islamabad Capital Territory and the Capital Administration Development Division (CADD) before finalising the bill.

Tarar requested the committee to reject the bill since it was practically impossible to implement provisions of the bill across the country.

Dr Nikhat, though, rejected Tarar’s the request, stating that their job as MNAs was to legislate and the government should figure out how to implement the bill.

The minister, however, retorted that there was no doubt that legislators make laws and that they also flagrantly violate it by smoking in the parliament.

“First of all the ban on smoking should be imposed in parliament lounges,” a chagrined health minister remarked.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 27^th, 2017.