Hospitals show improvement under private programme

Sindh Peoples Health Programme has been managing around 200 public hospitals in the province

KARACHI: The Sindh Peoples Health Programme, an initiative launched by a non-governmental organisation, Poverty Eradication Initiative, has started improving the indicators of healthcare in the province.

As many as 200 primary, secondary and tertiary public sector hospitals in Sindh, including those outsourced by the government to its private partners, are being managed under the programme with the slogan 'Rethinking Public Health'.

The programme aims to reduce charges for the poor, increase donation of medical and surgical supplies and promote awareness about health issues, said Dr Qadeer Ahsan, the programme director. He added that the programme has been designed for three years to improve healthcare for 4.5 million people by creating a real time electronic diagnostic, referral and sharing system.



According to Dr Ahsan, the programme will integrate lady health workers (LHWs), community midwives (CMWs) and other medical specialists and facilities. It will train 4,500 LHWs, 300 CMWs and 3,500 hospital staff and establish 300 safe birthing stations, he said, adding that the programme also focuses on increasing awareness about hygiene and basic healthcare among 600,000 children and their families.

The Sindh Government Children Hospital, North Nazimabad is one of the hospitals managed by Poverty Eradication Initiative through public-private partnership mode. The hospital's chief executive officer, Dr Fatima Mohabat Ali, wants to make it the best children's hospital in Karachi in terms of human resource management and technology.

Under the Sindh Peoples Health Programme, the patients visiting the 216-bed hospital's out-patient department have increased from around 400 to 1,700 daily, she said. According to her, in January 2017 when the private group took over administration of the hospital, 3,000 patients were admitted to its emergency department. However, due to better performance, the number increased to 9,600 in February 2018.