‘700 BHUs upgraded under reforms roadmap’

LAHORE:

Advisor to the Chief Minister on Health Khwaja Salman Rafique said on Sunday that 700 basic health units had been upgraded under the Chief Minister Health Reforms Roadmap and were now functional round the clock.

He said the upgrades included improvement of maternal health facilities. He added that attendance of staff and availability of medicines at the BHUs were being ensured.

Rafique said the department had introduced a system to incentivise performance. He said officials showing good performance were being encouraged through rewards and poor performers penalised. He said 300 specialist doctors had been posted to the tehsil and district headquarters hospitals across the province and a new salary package prepared for them.

Rafique said in his recent visit to the city International Polio Plus Committee Chairman Michael McGovern had praised the government’s efforts in eradicating polio from the province. He said McGovern had also attended a meeting of the Emergency Response and Operation Centre for Polio at the office of the Health Services director general. Rafique said samples tested for polio virus in the recent months had also come out negative.

Rafique said that measures were being taken to achieve public health targets identified in the roadmap, including prevention of outbreak of diseases. He said with a focus on prevention, the government could successfully lower the burden on public health facilities.

He said a vaccination monitoring system had recently been started to improve the performance of vaccinators engaged in the Enhanced Programme on Immunisation (EPI). He said vaccinators had been equipped with smart phones for record keeping.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 29^th, 2015.