KARACHI, July 30: Besides having trained and qualified doctors, pharmacists, and paramedics, the services of well-trained health managers are mandatory for proper utilization of funds and resources. This was stressed by Federal Health Minister Mohammad Nasir Khan at the inaugural ceremony of a two-day National Health Management Conference on “Managing for better health”, organized by College of Physicians and Surgeons Pakistan (CPSP) at its auditorium here on Saturday.

He said that within the context of devolution, the enhancement of managerial and technical skills of the district health managers and their teams was vital, as their training would certainly help in strengthening district health systems. The minister stressed the need for more interaction between policymakers, healthcare managers and the clinicians to address the issues, which would assist the government in ensuring better healthcare services to the people. He commended the role of CPSP in producing trained professionals in health management.

The minister asked the CPSP president to look into matter of complaints of charging heavy fees on account of holding exams and to take every possible step to reduce the fees.

CPSP President Prof M. Sultan Farooqui said that Pakistan being a developing country had meagre resources for a population of 150 million and there was dearth of well-qualified and trained personnel in all sectors including the health.

“There is a growing need and urgency for adequate number of trained manpower in healthcare sector, which can influence decision making and effectively manage national resources in a cost-effective manner,” he added.

The inaugural ceremony was followed by two scientific sessions and two workshops. First session was held on “Planning and health systems management” and the second was held on “Health Management Research”.

Talking to journalists following the ceremony the minister stated that Pakistan reporting 12 confirmed cases of Polio till July, 2005 had chalked out a foolproof mechanism to interrupt wild polio virus transmission across the country, ultimately helping it to attain “zero polio prevalence” by the end of current year.

He said that efforts were underway to ensure that indigenous transmission of wild polio was contained through 100 per cent coverage in the forthcoming national immunization rounds complemented by improved routine immunization programme.

The strategy, he said was to make sure that no child was missed out under any condition during the national immunization days scheduled for August 9-11 and another in September. The conference will conclude on Sunday evening. Federal Health Secretary Syed Anwar Mehmood will be the chief guest on the occasion.—PPI/APP