30 January 2005	Sunday	19 Zilhaj 1425

KARACHI, Jan 29: Participants of a panel discussion stressed the need for streamlining the functions of NGOs working in the child health field in order to avert duplication of projects and attract them to some more areas.

The discussion was organized as part of the first symposium of the National Institute of Child Health on Saturday. Prof Nizamul Hassan chaired the session.

There was a consensus that role of NGOs in the development of healthcare services was of greater importance, and as such it should be ensured that both the NGOs and government bodies collaborated with each other.

Talking on the theme of "Role of NGO's in Child Health", NICH Director Prof Afroze Ramzan Sherali, said that the institute had been able to improve services, despite financial constraints, due to support extended by the NGOs, individuals and philanthropists.

She said that the government alone could not ensure provision of secondary and tertiary healthcare to people, and as such a room was created for the NGOs, who should come up with more zeal and enter new avenues of child health as well.

A representative of Rotary International, Ayaz Karim, said that an NGO wanted to act as facilitator, once its relationship was established with a government institution, but at the same time it would like to see the sustainability of the projects undertaken with its support.

Dr Iqbal Memon of the Civil Hospital Karachi said that there was a need for a lot of support from individuals and organizations in the public health sector. However, he mentioned that NGOs should also address the issue of poor sanitation and sewerage, lack of safe drinking water, ignorance among mothers, which were reasons behinds the increased infant mortality rate in the country.

Prof Stanley Zlotkin from Canada said that the role of NGOs in developing countries, particularly in the health sector, was of key importance. He referred the working of an NGO in Bangladesh, and maintained that it was running a paralleled health system, giving positive results.

Dr Victor Lara said that NGOs could contribute in many areas in the health sector, including vaccination, nutrition and food for children and supplement of vitamins.

Dr Iftikhar A Jan of the NICH said that programmes and projects for getting support from NGOs should also be identified on priority basis and any duplication of projects should be averted.

Participants, mostly medical professionals, were of the view that NGOs should be persuaded to go in rural areas as well, and, among other activities, should extend their support for research in health and training of nursing staff as well.

The NGOs should work not in isolation, but develop interaction and exchange information with each other, and mobilize themselves further; these were the observation of participants during the question-answer session.

Yet in another discussion on "Research related to paediatrics-whose responsibility?", speakers called for more investment on paediatric researches and sensitization of child health experts and students with research.

Prof Sajid Maqbool from Lahore said that neonatal health and nutrition were some of the major areas where research could be carried out.

The paediatric research, which was very rare in the country, should be undertaken in a holistic manner.

Dr D S Akram observed that efforts should be made to stimulate the curiosity among the paediatric communities. Prof Asma Fouzia Qureshi said that there was need to get accurate data which was could provide the basis for a meaningful and sustainable development.

The secretary of the Pakistan Paediatrics Association, Sindh, Dr Zareen Fasih, said that government, non-government organizations and universities should have some percentage of their budget for conducting paediatric research.

Prof R N Srivastava from India said that availability of funds and technologies for research were not a problem but there was need for having a quality research. He said that there should be a couple of basic research centres as well in a country.

Prof Zulfiqar Bhutta said that research should not be taken as a sort of luxury, but should be considered worthy for seeking solutions of problems in the child health sector. Dr Ghaffar Billo, who chaired the discussion, was of the view that different organizations working in the field of paediatrics should join hands for establishment of a multi-centric child health research organization in the country.