Pakistan Institute for Development Economics (PIDE) is going to start a centre of excellence namely 'Centre for Population, Health and Social Policy (CPHSP)' with the objective of focusing holistically on health-related problems in the country. The decision was taken here on Wednesday during a high level meeting of the PIDE, which was chaired by Dr Rashid Amjad, Vice Chancellor PIDE.
Dr Amjad addressing the participants said that the issues related to 'health economy' like demographic contribution to health policy debates and planning were gaining importance world-wide, but unfortunately being ignored in Pakistan.
He said, "With the availability of relevant human capital at the PIDE, the centre can fill in this gap. Likewise, demography's contribution to health policy debate and planning is vital." He further said the CPHSP would serve as a tool to discover, integrate and disseminate knowledge through research in the field of health especially demography and economics.
While briefing the participants, Dr Durr-e-Nayab, Director, CPHSP, PIDE, said that the ignored issues related to health economy and health policy development involved different components like identifying the major diseases, designing healthcare systems and defining what government could use the full range of policy instruments. "Coherent health policies need to be strong in all three areas and this is the aim of the CPHSP to pursue these vital issues," she emphasised.