PESHAWAR, July 22: World Bank officials have drawn up a proposal to privatize a large number of health outlets here. The plan was presented by two World Bank consultants during a meeting with senior health officials. The bank’s representatives expressed dissatisfaction with the health network system and said it could not deliver quality services to the poor or those living in remote areas, according to a source.

Only the influential and privileged class benefits from the system, the source said quoting Work Bank officials.

The meeting was chaired by the NWFP’s health secretary, Abdus Samad, and two World Bank consultants. The director general health, chief of the provincial health service reform unit and managers of all provincial disease control programmes attended the meeting.

At the start of the meeting, sources said, WB representatives were briefed about the steps taken by the provincial health department to improve the health delivery system.

They were also given an update about the government plan to upgrade district-level hospitals and improve the service standard of basic health units and rural health centres.

The provincial disease control managers also briefed the World Bank officials about efforts to reduce the number of polio cases, create awareness against HIV/Aids, hepatitis B and C and some other chronic diseases.

The World Bank consultants openly expressed disagreement with the health department and repeatedly pointed to the failure of the system to reach the poor community and provide health facilities to those living either in the slum areas of main cities or in remote parts of the province, the sources claimed.

At this point they floated the idea of privatizing a maximum number of HBUs, RHUs and other health outlets.

They argued that since the public sector was under the government’s influence it would never be able to provide health facilities to the poor and underprivileged class, the sources said.

However, they said, the private sector stood a better chance of delivering services to the community. It would be in the interest of both the government and masses if the privatization process of health units is expedited in the NWFP, they added.