12 December 2004	Sunday	29 Shawwal 1425

PESHAWAR, Dec 11: NWFP Chief Minister Akram Khan Durrani has sought international donor organizations' support for health sector development projects to achieve UN's millennium development objectives.

However, he has said that the MMA government will implement donor-aided projects in line with the local situation.

"We thank donor agencies, though they pay only four per cent of the budgetary expenditure in health sector. But they must take into consideration our local religio-cultural environment and our priorities as well as basic needs for better utilization of the assistance," he said while speaking at a one-day 'donor coordination workshop', organized by the Health Sector Research and Reforms Unit (HSRRU) here on Friday.

The workshop was attended by representatives of donor bodies, district nazims, doctors and health experts.

Mr Durrani said coordination between partners would lead to better utilization of funds and would minimize duplication and overlapping.

He said that Islam held women in high esteem, and the donors funded projects for women's development.

Health Minister Inayatullah Khan said the government was working hard to develop and strengthen partnership and networks, encourage and support need-based initiatives and public-private partnership to provide child and maternal health services to people at the grassroots level.

"The government has allocated Rs50 million for emergency care, besides setting up a Rs500 million health endowment fund for providing treatment to chronically-ill patients and starting evening OPDs." Likewise, projects were under way to raise the level of public awareness concerning HIV/AIDS, malaria, TB, hepatitis, polio and water-borne ailments," Mr Khan said.

Dr Mohammad Rafiq, chief of the HSRRU, spoke about the existing facilities of medical education and healthcare institutions in the province. He said that lack of resources was the main hurdle in improving the situation.

"Alignment of partners' programmes with the recipients' priorities and a pragmatic approach to development assistance agreed by the partners could make a vast difference," he said.

Dr Annae Austin, cited examples of India, Bangladesh and Nepal where, she said, harmonization and coordination between donors and recipients had registered success stories in the area of health.

Dr Ziaul Hasan, Dr Shabina Raza, Dr Abdul Ghafoor, Dr Mohammad Zafar, Dr Amanullah, Dr Javaid Khan and Dr Tahir Nadeem made presentations on the medical care situation in the province with special focus on HIV/AIDS, reproductive and maternal health, malaria and TB.