PESHAWAR, April 17: A number of doctors are seeking job at the health secretariat in their bid to get lucrative employment in the international health organisations in future, official sources told Dawn on Thursday.

“The secretariat has been serving as a launching pad for doctors through which many of them had been able to get employed on highly-paid posts with the international organisations, especially the UN health agencies,” said the sources.

The trend of appointing doctors on various administrative posts in the provincial heath secretariat was started during Sardar Mehtab’s government. Mohammad Saleem Jhagra, the then health secretary, appointed a number of health professionals to supervise various sections of the department. These doctors were being hired against lucrative salary packages with additional benefits and privileges.

The doctors running the affairs of developmental projects at the secretariat level find ample opportunities to come in contact with the officials of international bodies and make acquaintances. These doctors succeed in getting prized jobs after serving at the secretariat for two to three years, the sources said.

Sources said that one, Dr Jamil Bangash, who had served as chief of health sector reforms unit, was now employed by WHO abroad. Likewise, Dr Qaid Saeed, who served in Social Action Programme (SAP) cell in health secretariat, had also occupied a post in the same organisation.

Dr Mohammad Javed, another medical doctor who earlier served in the secretariat, had now a job with the Unicef. And Dr Aman is working with an American-based organisation only because of his posting at the secretariat, the sources claimed.

A number of doctors serving in the same secretariat included Dr Mohammad Rafiq, who is private secretary to the health minister, but has also been enjoying the post of chief of Health Sector Reforms Unit (HSRU).

Dr Maqsood and Dr Javed are also working in the same unit.

All the three had been the applicants for the post of Chief of HSRU as they had already applied for the same post that was advertised last November 2002.

But the interview for the post is yet to held despite the passage of five months since the advertisement appeared in the press.—By Our Correspondent