13 June 2004	Sunday	24 Rabi-us-Saani 1425

PESHAWAR, June 12: Speakers at a seminar have stressed the importance of managerial and administrative techniques in health sector to achieve desired results.

The one-day seminar entitled "Health Informatics" was organized by Abasyn Institute of Management Sciences at a local hotel on Saturday. Students, doctors and health professionals attended the event.

Dr Nayyar Raza Kazmi said that health management had emerged as a new field which had played a significant role in streamlining the affairs of the health sector in developing countries.

He said health management was a relatively new phenomenon in Pakistan, but was gaining popularity among the government and officials associated with the health sector.

He said the primary duty of the doctors was to investigate and provide treatment facilities to people. "It was the job of trained health managers to device ways and means for safe disposal of hospital waste and streamline other affairs, such as administration measures, which ensured the smooth functioning of health institutes," he added.

He urged the government to introduce administrative cadre in health sector to streamline matters like purchase of drugs, make the staff punctual and judicious use of allocated budget.

Dr Kazmi said that it was high time that clinical and administrative side be segregated from one another to bring improvement in the functioning of the health delivery system.

The director of the Abasyn institute, Mohammad Imranullah, said that his institute was launching a programme under which postgraduate diplomas in health informatics courses would be offered to enhance the capacity of health professionals to deal with administrative affairs of the health care outlets.