USAID to provide assistance for up gradation of Lady Wallingdon Hospital

Punjab Secretary Health Mohammad Jehanzeb Khan has said that new strategy would have to be evolved for making health delivery system more vibrant and strong so that the difficulties in providing health facilities to the remote areas could be resolved.
For this purpose, capacity building of Health Managers would be undertaken alongwith adopting, accountability and fool proof monitoring system, he said, while talking to a 9-member USAID Delegation who called on him here on Saturday. The delegation included Director Lahore, Beth Paige, Senior Advisor, Randi Hat Field, Senior Programme Advisor, Dr Muhammad Ahmad Isa. Others present included Programme Management Specialist Dr Naila Shahid and others. Addl. Secretary Health (Tech) Dr Mushtaq Ahmad Sulehria, Director General Health Punjab, Dr Aslam Chaudhry Director Health Management Information System Dr Anwar Janjua, Project Director Health Sector Reforms Programme, Farasat Ali, MNCH Programme Co-ordinator, Dr Sabiha Khurshid, Provincial Co-ordinator Family Planning and Primary Health Care, Dr Akhtar Rasheed Malik and other senior officers.
The meeting reviewed in detail various ongoing health programmes in Punjab especially Family Planning, Mother and Child Health, Hepatitis Control and Health Sector Reforms Programmes. The meeting also discussed the strategies for further enhancing the technical and financial assistance of USAID in these programmes.
The head of delegation said that USAID would extend financial as well as technical operation in rehabilitation of infrastructure and community development of the Lady Willingdon Hospital, the largest hospital of gynaecology. The delegation also briefed the Secretary Health regarding their co-operation in different health programmes.
While talking to the delegation, Secretary Health said that the main objective of taking these steps was to improve the quality and standard of health delivery for ensuring provision of best health facilities to the masses. He stressed that all the reforms and revolutionary steps should be result oriented, so that huge financial as well as human resources could be utilised in a proper way and people could benefit from these initiatives in real sense. He said that the major portion of the Budget is being spent on tertiary care at present, whereas, we have to strengthen our primary and secondary healthcare system for reducing the workload on tertiary hospitals. He further said that special attention should be paid on prevention and control of the diseases so that huge expenses on treatment could also be curtailed.
Moreover, a spokesman of Heath Department has clarified a news item published in different newspapers regarding expiring of MRI injections in Jinnah Hospital and said that the Secretary Health had already constituted an inquiry committee to probe into the matter.
The inquiry proceedings are under process and competent authority has directed the committee to complete its proceedings by May 18th, 2011 and furnish a report in this regard, he added. The spokesman further said that whosoever been found involved in this negligence, strict action would be taken accordingly.