Sindh launches digital system to track medicines, prevent illegal sales in public hospitals

Sindh Health Minister Dr Pechuho says an MoU has been signed with NADRA to allow online registration of home births

KARACHI:

The Sindh government has started digitising medicines in public hospitals to prevent their illegal sale, with the digital system already launched at Civil Hospital Karachi to enable effective tracking, said Sindh Health Minister Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho.

Addressing a press conference on Wednesday, she said the People's Primary Healthcare Initiative (PPHI) was being handed over an additional 150 health facilities, strengthening the province's primary healthcare system. To address staff shortages in remote areas, the government is introducing a hire-and-fire mechanism through private companies.

Sharing data on communicable diseases, Dr Pechuho said 284,138 dog-bite cases had been reported across Sindh this year. Karachi alone has recorded 1,600 measles cases in 2025, while the province-wide figure stands at 3,180. She added that Karachi has reported 121 cases of diphtheria, four of mpox, and a combined seven cases of Naegleria and Congo virus. In addition, 151 cases of H1N1, 327 of Covid-19, 3,442 of malaria and 10,244 dengue cases have been reported in the city.

The health minister announced that new hospitals would be established in Daulatpur and Garhi Khuda Bakhsh, while paramedical staff would be recruited to address issues at Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC). She said eight hospitals were targeted to be made functional this year, with PIB Hospital expected to become fully operational within a month.

To reduce patient load at Civil and Jinnah hospitals, smaller hospitals in Gulshan-e-Hadeed, Kamal Khan Goth, Ancholi, Saudabad and Razzaqabad are being made functional. Emphasising maternal and child health, she said significant steps were taken this year and urged parents to maintain proper birth spacing.

Dr Pechuho said an MoU had been signed with NADRA to allow online registration of home births, while work on establishing a breast milk bank was under way, though some technical issues remained.

Announcing reforms in nursing education, she said five teachers would be sent annually to Aga Khan University for master's programmes, nursing students would receive a monthly stipend of Rs30,000, and an evening BSN programme had been introduced.

She added that a SIUT facility had been established in Nawabshah under the name BIUT, vascular surgery services were available at trauma centres, and robotic surgery was being performed at Lyari Medical College. The Quality Control Board in the health department has been activated, the MDCAT policy finalised, and 825 procedures completed at Baldia Centre.

Dr Pechuho said mental health projects were launched in Larkana and Sukkur in collaboration with NGOs, while lady health workers were trained as mental health workers. She also noted that an NICVD had been established in Quetta, 19 chest pain units were functional in Karachi, and new medical, emergency and stroke units had been set up at Jinnah Hospital.

A neurosurgery unit has been established at Civil Hospital Karachi, she said, adding that the hospital's master plan would be completed by January next year, with upgradation of heritage buildings also planned.