PESHAWAR, May 14: NWFP Health Minister Inayatullah Khan said on Sunday that the government’s key developmental priority for the next financial year would be to utilise resources to strengthen existing health outlets instead of establishing new facilities.

The minister was speaking at a high-level meeting held in the health secretariat to discuss details of uplift targets to be reflected in the forthcoming annual development programme (ADP).

The meeting was attended by Health Secretary Abdus Samad Khan, Director General of Health Services Dr Jalilur Rehman, chief planning officer of health Rahim Zada, senior planning officer Sher Gul Safi and other planning cell experts.

The meeting deliberated over framing an efficient strategy for improvement of the health care delivery system and also identified priority areas in health sector for next budget.

Issuing special directives on the occasion, the minister ordered filling up of vacant posts of doctors at district level through departmental recruitment procedure. He asked director general of health to give priority to the backward areas of the province in this regard.

Similarly, the health minister disclosed that emergency medicines would be provided to district headquarters hospitals in huge quantity during the next fiscal year.

He directed concerned authorities to submit requirements of the mentioned hospitals immediately. The health minister also ordered submission of the scheduled for new expenditures (SNE) for eight different hospitals, to be completed within the current financial year in various parts of the province.