Devolution process: Govt may set up health authorities at district level

Dr Hisham says budget to be decided at local level for better services

PESHAWAR: Health Minister Dr Hisham Inamullah Khan has disclosed that the government is planning to establish Regional Health Authority at district level.

The devolution will allow health authorities for independent local decision making for providing better health facilities to the people.

He said budget to the regional health authorities would be provided on the lines of Medical Teaching Institutes (MTIs) and the regional authorities would be independent in taking decision on providing health facilities to the people of different districts.

Hisham said this while presiding over a high level meeting at his office on Monday.

The meeting was also attended by Federal Minister Umer Ayub Khan, MPA Arshid Ayub Khan and ex-provincial Minister Yousaf Ayub Khan.

The meeting discussed the issues and problems faced by different health facilities in Haripur and it was decided to plan upgrading of District Headquarters Hospital Haripur from category B to A as the population influx in the area is huge and being the government policy, the health facilities would be provided at the district and tehsil level rather than at provincial headquarter.

The provincial health minister informed the meeting that the situation regarding the health facilities in districts and far flung areas would be changed after integrating the RHCs and BHUs as per the district headquarter hospitals level like the facilities available at the district headquarter hospitals would be soon shifted to the BHUs. He said for this purpose in the province, for the first time 200 BHUs would be upgraded soon.

The meeting also discussed the possibility to establish a medical college in Haripur so that the students of the area could be facilitated in future.

The health minister informed the meeting that the data of all the doctors employed in K-P health department was collected and it was astonishing to know that 2,000 out of 8,000 doctors are on extra-ordinary leave.

The health minister assured that soon the shortfall of doctors and specialists in districts would be covered by appointing doctors and specialists on the vacant posts of all the districts, tehsil headquarters and other hospitals and all the doctors would be made bound to stay there for at least two years.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 29^th, 2019.