05 January 2004	Monday	12 Ziqa'ad 1424

KARACHI, Jan 4: A 'Rapid Assessment Survey' has been kicked off in Sindh to formulate district health plans for capacity building of health managers in the province.

Health managers' teams had been notified in all the districts, which would soon be working to enhance the capabilities of those associated with health sector in the province, official sources informed PPI.

PC-1 of the project, to be launched on massive scale, had been approved and was being implemented, the sources said. Sources maintained that the objective of this survey, and the health plan based on it, was to enable district health officers to bring improvements in health sector, particularly through devising plans and formulating PC-1s for the related projects.

The pilot project of this programme was in progress in Karachi district, and would be further extended to other parts of the province soon, as all the requirements had been fulfilled to launch the survey.

After collecting the relevant data, different district health plans would be devised, which would include short, medium and long-term plans, spreading over one, three and five years, respectively, the sources said.

They informed that formulation of district health plans was an initiative of Sindh district governments, however, provincial government would play the role of facilitator by providing the districts technical assistance and financial support.

After completion of this survey, data would be compiled in the light of the findings of the Health Management Information System and those of National Health Programme, which were ongoing projects of the federal government, to formulate a comprehensive plan in this regard, the sources said.

The project was also aimed at highlighting the issues and problems being faced by the Basic Health Units in the province, the sources added.-PPI