Bridging the gap: ‘There is a shortage of skilled labour in Pakistan’s public health sector’

Health experts discuss obstacles at the newly opened School of Public Health at DUHS.

KARACHI: The School of Public Health at the Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS) opened its doors on Thursday and invited experts to speak at the occassion.

Ironically, on this auspicious occasion, the doctors highlighted the shortage of skilled workforce in the country’s public health sector.

“Unfortunately public health is a neglected field in our country. More manpower and resources must be allocated to this sector,” said Dr Raja Amjad Mehmood, Pakistan Medical and Dental Council’s (PMDC) administrator, in a recorded video message played at the occasion. Mehmood said that health is a basic human right and Pakistan is a signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948.



He said that Pakistan is spending less on health than most countries, with the total expenditures on health being 2.6 per cent of GDP. Only 0.86 per cent of GDP is spent on public health sector.

Assistant Prof. Dr Sabeena Jalal spoke about the aims and objectives of the school and shed light on the facilities available on campus.

It has five tutorial rooms, an auditorium, a digital lab, a library, an audiovisual room, and offices for the visiting and regular faculty. PMDC recognises the school’s four new undergraduate degree programes and master’s degrees in six specialised fields including Masters of Science in Public Health, Social and Behavioral Sciences and Masters of Health Policy and Management. The school is the first in Pakistan to offer a postgraduate diploma in Aviation Medicine.

In her presentation, Dr Nilofer Safdar, the director of the Nutritional Sciences Program of the school, said that 23 per cent of the province’s population has malnutrition while 40 percent of the country’s total population has the condition. She described the courses and subjects that the school is offering as a part of the programme.



The vice chancellor of DUHS, Prof. Masood Hameed Khan, said that there is a need for more skilled people in the public health sector of the country.

“The human resource which the university aims to develop will be a great benefit not only to Pakistan but to the region as well.” Khan said that the school will later offer PhD programmes, aiming to reduce the incidence of hepatitis B and C, tuberculosis, malaria and conditions such as obesity and diabetes.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 9^th, 2013.