KARACHI, Aug 20: The Lady Health Workers (LHWs) programme is among the priority areas of the government of Sindh, and will be extended all required support for its successful implementation.

This was stated by the Sindh Minister for Health, Maj-Gen Ahsan Ahmed while speaking as the chief-guest at a two-day workshop on strategic planning for the national programme for family planning and primary health care at a local hotel on Tuesday.

The minister said that the lady health workers programme is rated as one of the most successful ones in the health sector.

He stated that the results of the third evaluation of the programme suggest that health indicators in the areas covered by LHWs are significantly better then the control area. Many weaknesses of the programme have also been highlighted in the report.

Gen Ahmed said it was high time that programme managers at all levels sat down and worked for ways to overcome weaknesses. This series of workshops will provide a good opportunity in this regard.

He opined that practicable policies can only be formulated if the ground situation is kept in mind at the time of policy making. The district is the key level in the implementation and supervision of any programme. The district managers — whether EDOs or district coordinators — are the most appropriate persons to provide feedback on the ground situation and issues.

The minister said that one of the major issues is decentralization of the programme. Under the current set up, many activities such as recruitment and training are already decentralized.

However, he added that a few important activities such as procurement and printing are undertaken at the federal level. This setup has its own advantages as well as drawbacks.

Gen Ahmed believed that no programme can survive if its three components — which he termed as salary, supply and supervision — are weak.

The Minister said that another challenge is that poor performing LHWs have to be converted into performers. Good training and efficient supervision is the solution. The infrastructure for both these activities is available within the programme. What is required is that it be made more functional and efficient.

He stated that the role of programme managers, particularly the district managers, is vital.

Gen Ahmed asked the health secretary to closely watch the performance of district managers regarding the LHWs programme, and any slack on their part should be brought to his notice.

The Provincial Coordinator of Family Planning and Primary Health care Sindh, Dr Husna J. Memon, said that the programme in Sindh has been launched in a phased manner, and out of 18,008 allocated seats, 16,706 LHWs are recruited. Of these, 13,656 are working in the field. The selection of 1,325 LHWs against drop out and termination is under process. This means that 38 per cent of the population is covered by the LHWs.

Zahid Larik, Dr Fateh Mohammd Khan, Dr Zulfiqar and Dr Ali Nawaz Shaikh also spoke.—APP