Mother and child fatalities: Poor governance, facilities make for worst-case scenario
Experts demand accountability, better infrastructure.
Ninety per cent mothers and children die in Pakistan from preventable diseases and absence of cost-effective interventions, Doctor added.PHOTO: FILE
ISLAMABAD:
Doctors expressed concern over the fact that Pakistan’s health indicators are the worst compared to other developing countries due to poor governance and health infrastructure.
Speaking at an introductory meeting of the first “International Conference on Women and Children’s Health” scheduled to be held this year in September, they raised the issue of the deteriorating health status of the people due to lack of accountability.
While briefing the media and stakeholders about the upcoming international conference, senior gynaecologists and paediatricians at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims), said the conference was being organised with the aim to develop recommendations for improving outcomes in reproductive neonatal and sexual health in Pakistan over the next decade.
They demanded the government to save mothers and children, who die every day due to preventable diseases. The deaths could have been averted if it were not for poor healthcare facilities and resource constraint.
At the conference, experts will highlight the need to make the lives of our mothers and their babies a priority.
The conference will be organised by Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Medical University (SZABMU) Pims in collaboration with World Health Organisation (WHO), Unicef and other international and national donor agencies, which will be attended by over 50 health experts from across the country.
Dr Tabish Hazir, head of the department of paediatrics at Pims said, “It would be too embarrassing for us to present these shocking health indicators to international health experts at the conference.”
He expressed concern over the statistics on routine immunisation shared by the provinces which he described as misleading. “They all claim that the coverage in their respective province was above 80 per cent. But if we share this figure with international experts, they will ask how come Pakistan faced a measles outbreak despite high coverage.”
Dr Hazir said that the impression that floods and earthquakes had affected the health sector was false. “Even before these natural calamities health indicators were unsatisfactory and mothers and infants were dying every day.” Ninety per cent mothers and children die in Pakistan from preventable diseases and absence of cost-effective interventions, he added.
State Minister for National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination Saira Afzal Tarar said, “It is worrisome that we have to give incentives to parents to get their children vaccinated.”
Expressing concern over the low coverage of routine immunisation across the nation she announced that provinces were now bound to provide quarterly reports to the federal government on the utilisation of vaccines under the Expanded Programme on Immunisation without which they would not be given vaccines.
“Saving the lives of mothers and children is not critical but crucial,” she said.
“Recommendations from international health experts will be presented to the prime minister so they can be incorporated in policies to address mother and child healthcare issues,” said Prof. Javed Akram, vice-chancellor SZABMU.
The international conference is being organised at a time when Pakistan is struggling to eradicate polio from the country and control the outbreak of measles, he stated.
“In Pakistan 50 per cent of health issues are related to reproductive, mother and child health which can be overcome through ownership, full commitment and focus.”
Published in The Express Tribune, June 11th, 2014.
Doctors expressed concern over the fact that Pakistan’s health indicators are the worst compared to other developing countries due to poor governance and health infrastructure.
Speaking at an introductory meeting of the first “International Conference on Women and Children’s Health” scheduled to be held this year in September, they raised the issue of the deteriorating health status of the people due to lack of accountability.
While briefing the media and stakeholders about the upcoming international conference, senior gynaecologists and paediatricians at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims), said the conference was being organised with the aim to develop recommendations for improving outcomes in reproductive neonatal and sexual health in Pakistan over the next decade.
They demanded the government to save mothers and children, who die every day due to preventable diseases. The deaths could have been averted if it were not for poor healthcare facilities and resource constraint.
At the conference, experts will highlight the need to make the lives of our mothers and their babies a priority.
The conference will be organised by Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Medical University (SZABMU) Pims in collaboration with World Health Organisation (WHO), Unicef and other international and national donor agencies, which will be attended by over 50 health experts from across the country.
Dr Tabish Hazir, head of the department of paediatrics at Pims said, “It would be too embarrassing for us to present these shocking health indicators to international health experts at the conference.”
He expressed concern over the statistics on routine immunisation shared by the provinces which he described as misleading. “They all claim that the coverage in their respective province was above 80 per cent. But if we share this figure with international experts, they will ask how come Pakistan faced a measles outbreak despite high coverage.”
Dr Hazir said that the impression that floods and earthquakes had affected the health sector was false. “Even before these natural calamities health indicators were unsatisfactory and mothers and infants were dying every day.” Ninety per cent mothers and children die in Pakistan from preventable diseases and absence of cost-effective interventions, he added.
State Minister for National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination Saira Afzal Tarar said, “It is worrisome that we have to give incentives to parents to get their children vaccinated.”
Expressing concern over the low coverage of routine immunisation across the nation she announced that provinces were now bound to provide quarterly reports to the federal government on the utilisation of vaccines under the Expanded Programme on Immunisation without which they would not be given vaccines.
“Saving the lives of mothers and children is not critical but crucial,” she said.
“Recommendations from international health experts will be presented to the prime minister so they can be incorporated in policies to address mother and child healthcare issues,” said Prof. Javed Akram, vice-chancellor SZABMU.
The international conference is being organised at a time when Pakistan is struggling to eradicate polio from the country and control the outbreak of measles, he stated.
“In Pakistan 50 per cent of health issues are related to reproductive, mother and child health which can be overcome through ownership, full commitment and focus.”
Published in The Express Tribune, June 11th, 2014.