ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi has said that the information technology systems geared up during the Covid-19 pandemic would help a long way to uplift the health sector in future.

Addressing a webinar on Pakistan Maternal Mortality Survey on Thursday, the president said the efficiency achieved in the IT sector by Pakistan during the pandemic could otherwise have taken 10 years to reach the point.

He said the IT would help promote the mechanisms such as telehealth system and improve communication between the people and the government particularly for awareness on prevention of disease through measures such as frequent hand washing.

He said as the prime minister had long been working in the health sector since establishment of Shaukat Khanum Hospital, availability of better healthcare for people always remained his main concern.

Even, in his maiden speech after becoming prime minister, Imran Khan raised the issue of children's stunted growth which could be better addressed through two-year breastfeeding and gap between pregnancies.

He said considering the growing size of the country's population, it was essential to take care of children's nutrition and maternal health.

The president said through the holy book of Qur'an, Allah had also instructed for at least 24 months of breastfeeding which would address both the issues of stunted growth and maternal health.

He said he had also asked the companies manufacturing formula milk to market their products in a way to make it clear that it was never an alternate to the breastfeeding.

The president, who also chaired a task force on population, repeatedly called for gap between pregnancies for recovery of mother's health, and avert malnutrition in the children.

He also mentioned his frequent interaction with religious scholars to promote breastfeeding and guide the people that gap between pregnancies was essential to protect mothers from various health complications. He said it was pleasing that the maternal mortality rate had come down to 186 per 1,000 births from 276 per 1,000 as recorded in 2006 survey.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020