PMA urges govt to improve basic healthcare system
A healthcare worker collects a test swab sample from a woman amidst the spread of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), at a testing centre inside a hospital in New Delhi, India, January 14, 2022. PHOTO: REUTERS
The Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) has emphasised the need for improving the primary healthcare system in the country instead of investing in highcost machinery for tertiary care without an improvement in the former. A representative body of medical practitioners, PMA, apparently opposed the robotic surgery initiative of the Sindh government asserting on improving the basic healthcare in the province.
However, the provincial government is investing in robotics so that the facility is available free of cost to people. The PMA’s statement came as the Caretaker Chief Minister Justice (retd) Maqbool Baqar and the Caretaker Health Minister Dr Saad Niaz exchanged verbal barbs over robotic surgery, with the later vehemently opposing the idea, terming it a waste of resources. PMA said, as an organisation that promotes healthcare advancement, it acknowledges that tertiary care is important, but it believes that the government’s focus should be on the primary healthcare system.
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Strengthening the primary healthcare system will ensure that people receive timely and adequate medical attention without the need for expensive tertiary care. The primary healthcare system is the backbone of the health sector and caters to 70-80 percent of healthcare in Pakistan. Unfortunately it is weak, and we need to focus on improving it before investing in tertiary care.
Primary healthcare system in Pakistan, especially in Sindh lacks basic facilities and equipment, which forces people to seek treatment at costly medical centres.