Public health: UK to help develop disease surveillance

LAHORE:

The Public Health England would cooperate with the provincial government for establishing an Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response System in the Punjab, Health Secretary Jawwad Rafique Malik said on Thursday.

“The Department for International Development (DFID) will provide funds for the project,” Malik said during a meeting with Public Health Department England consultant Annette Luker, at Civil Secretariat.

The secretary said the government was committed to establishing an effective system for controlling epidemic and vector borne diseases. He said the government wanted to enhance the Institute of Public Health’s (IPH) role in disease control and research.

“The IPH will be reorganised on modern lines... to deal with diseases, including dengue, malaria and Ebola virus,” he said.

Luker assured the secretary that her department would extend all-possible assistance for the project.

DFID representative Dr Ayesha said public health experts from the Centre for Disease Control, Atlanta, would also cooperate in setting up the system. Health Services Director General Zahid Pervaiz, Technical Resource Facility Provincial Coordinator Anwar Janjua and Policy and Strategic Planning Unit Director Ali Bahadur Qazi also attended the meeting.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 11^th, 2015.