March 26, 2003	Wednesday	Muharram 22, 1424

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RAWALPINDI, March 25: The Punjab governor, Lt Gen Khalid Maqbool (retired), here on Tuesday categorically stated that the autonomy granted to mega-hospitals would continue.

Speaking at the meeting of members of Board of Governors of Rawalpindi Medical College and allied hospitals, he said tertiary health care facilities had been provided autonomy for giving greater financial and administrative space to the professionals to run these institutions suitably.

The Punjab government, in response to the doctors and teachers protest, had constituted a commission under Justice Mujadid Mirza (retired) to review the autonomy granted to the health institutions. The commission has submitted its report and it is being anticipated that the government would scrap the reforms in the light of the report.

He said it should be clear that the reform agenda had a deep sense of commitment and purpose. The political government is in place and he is pleased to note that it is not only continuing the leftover agenda, but has taken a number of steps to accelerate the process, he added.

About the issue of resignation of the BoG chairman, Air Marshal Arshad Chaudhary (retired), he said he would sort out the matter with the chief minister and a final decision on the issue would be taken shortly.

To a query by the members about the status of BoG in the absence of chairman, Gen Maqbool said, the BoG was operational and fully functional. The members should play an active role in regulating the affairs of the institutions, he added.

One of the members of the BoG told the governor that the paucity of resources was a reality, however, the leakage and misuse of resources available at hand should be checked.

The governor was informed by the officials that 70 per cent of the task of making RMC complex at Holy Family Hospital operational had been completed and the rest would be done in next couple of months.

To a question regarding the transfer of HFH medical superintendent, Dr Nisar Cheema, he said the chief minister would take a decision in this regard.

Earlier, speaking at the 4th convocation of Rawalpindi Medical College, the Punjab governor called for chalking out a plan to utilize available resources in the health sector.

He conceded the poor conditions at the government-run health care institutions and said: “The equipment and accessories at our hospitals are either out of order or out of date.” These are inescapable realities and need to be addressed firmly, he added.

The governor said hospitals did not have enough money to provide medicines to the patients. “Billions of rupees are required for this purpose,” he said.

He stressed the need for addressing the issue of funding for hospitals and improving the training standards of doctors and paramedical staff. “We must equip them with the latest techniques besides making their working environments congenial,” he added.

He said the poor situation assumed serious dimensions in the backdrop of poor social indicators like high infant mortality, high rate of communicable diseases, lethal scourges like Tuberculosis and Hepatitis, which were eating away the resources with vengeance. Besides, the respiratory infections and diarrhoeal diseases are on the rise, he added.

Gen Maqbool contended that the best available option for creating positive impact on the poor situation in the health sector is the elimination of poverty.

“The health planners would have to shift their focus from curative to preventive side, people’s access to clean water, better sewerage would have to be increased and the public would have to be made more aware about the health issues confronting them.”

He said the population control was yet another area, which required attention. Gen Maqbool said the health department would have to work on documentation of the disease patterns so that the available resources could be utilized properly.

On the issue of private medical colleges, he said the public sector institutions should improve their standard and asked them not to be “scared of” the private institutions. He urged the public institutions to compete with the private colleges.

About the private sector’s involvement in provision of health services, he said, the government could not alone provide these services to the people and the private sector would have to be encouraged. He directed the health department to set up a core group involving communications and works department to monitor the operationalisation of Rawalpindi Medical College complex at Holy Family Hospital.

He also asked the health department to set up a research and publication fund for the college.

Principal of the RMC, Dr Malik Hussain Mubashir, highlighted the issues confronting the college.

Almost 350 graduates of the college were awarded degrees and another 40 were given medals and shields for their outstanding achievements in the field of health.

Meanwhile, the head of Gynaecology Department at the RGH, Prof Dr Asma Usmani, drew the attention of the governor towards shortage of space at the existing maternity centre and sought his personal assistance for making the hospital’s newly-constructed maternity centre functional. However, the governor pledged to provide funds for this purpose.