KARACHI, Jan 10: The quality of health care in the country can not be improved until the nurses are given the social status that they deserve and the quality of their education and training be improved.
This was stated by Federal Director General Health Maj Gen (Retd) Mohammad Aslam at the 47th graduation ceremony of the College of Nursing, Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, on Saturday morning. He said that the nurses should also be trained to operate computers so that they could meet future challenges.
Launching of the programmes in psychiatric and community nursing was described as a praise-worthy step by him. He urged the 100-odd passing out graduates - belonging to the disciplines of teaching and ward administrations, community health and psychiatry - to work diligently for the benefit of the ailing people.
About scarcity of resources in the JPMC's College of Nursing, Maj Gen Aslam pledged that he would get in touch with the people of the World Health Organization and the Women's Health Project to get hold of the much needed funds.
He praised the Cowasjee Foundation for instituting 100 scholarships of Rs5,000 each. He urged other philanthropists to come forward and do the needful in this important area.
On the occasion, Maj Gen Aslam announced the creation of two positions, the holders of which will be sent to prestigious institutions for development of their skills.
During the simple but impressive ceremony, a total of 42 graduates were awarded completion certificates in teaching administration, 45 in ward administration, 13 in community health nursing and seven in psychiatric nursing.
The JPMC's director, Prof Kazi A. Shakoor; and principal of the nursing college, Mehvish Nadir, also spoke briefly.
Following the graduation ceremony, Maj Gen Aslam told Dawn that a number of sanctioned posts were reserved for nurses on the lower side, still, many such positions remained vacant. "So, this represents double trouble for us," he told this reporter.
He elaborated that one of the major reasons for this shortcoming was the refusal by women to relocate to other parts of the country. "For instance, we have two seats in Islamabad reserved for nurses from Sindh. It becomes very difficult for us to fill these two seats," he said, and added that the nurses from Punjab were similarly reluctant to move to Karachi or other parts of Sindh.
In response to a question, he said the recent peace initiatives launched by President Musharraf were aimed at helping release more funds for social sectors. "Pakistan spends less than one per cent of its GDP on health sector. This needs to change," he said. A hand of friendship towards India would help reducing expenditure on defence and utilizing the funds for improving health standards, he added.
