July 19, 2006	Wednesday	Jumadi-ul-Sani 22, 1427

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ISLAMABAD, July 18: The government plans to set up a regulatory authority to monitor facilities working for the rehabilitation of disabled persons. “Modalities have been finalised by the Ministry of Health to establish the National Medical Rehabilitation Authority (NMRA) to regulate local rehabilitation centres,” Health Minister Mohammad Nasir Khan told reporters here on Tuesday.

In addition to this, the Health Ministry has also launched two projects, namely Rs27 billion National Maternal, Neonatal and Child Health (NMCH) programme to be completed over the next five years, and Rs420 million National Programme for Early Detection and Treatment of Breast Cancer.

About NMRA, the health minister said it would be run by an executive board comprising a nine-member team of experts in the field of medical rehabilitation, and seven ex-officio members, who would be officers of the health departments of the provinces and the adjoining areas. The health minister will preside over the board meetings and also advise the federal and provincial governments on matters of treating disabilities through medical rehabilitation.

It will set up its own facilities in government hospitals and coordinate relief activities during crises. Maintenance of epidemiological data regarding incidence of different disabilities in the country will also be part of the job of the organisation.

The need for such a regulatory body was being felt, the minister said, after the October 8 earthquake. Immediately after the disaster, different private groups and non-governmental organisations mushroomed to establish centres and makeshift facilities for the medical rehabilitation of those rendered disabled during the disaster, regardless of whether they had the required expertise.

According to a survey conducted by the health ministry, a majority of the centres and makeshift facilities that sprung up in the post-October 8 scenario were neither manned by orthopaedic specialists nor by doctors. Only a few had qualified or trained experts to deal with medical rehabilitation.

Thus, their services did more harm than good as far as the disabled were concerned, as in many instances, mishandling of amputations deprived victims of their chances of artificial limb transplants, the minister deplored.

Regarding NMCH, he said the programme had been launched to reduce maternal, neonatal, child deaths and illnesses and improve access to high-quality and effective reproductive health (RH) services for all, particularly the marginalized.

Key areas of intervention include availability of skilled birth attendants and provision of basic and comprehensive Emergency and Obstetric Care (EmOC) services and family planning services in collaboration with the Ministry of Population Welfare.

Family planning services will be made available at all health facilities; 10,000 skilled birth attendants will be trained; comprehensive EmOC services will be provided to 275 hospitals across the country; basic EmOC services will be offered through 550 health facilities; 15,000 health facility staff will be trained in reproductive health; and round-the-clock child referral services will be offered at the tehsil and district headquarters hospitals.

“Eighty per cent of the health facilities will be equipped with necessary equipment including ultrasound machines and drugs,” Nasir Khan said.

NMCH project is being envisaged as a major programme that will enable Pakistan to reduce maternal mortality ratio by three- quarters by 2015 (from baseline levels of 550 per 1,000,000 live births to 140 per 100,000 live births); reduce under-five child mortality rate by two-thirds (from 140 per 1,000 live births to 52 per 1,000 live births); reduce infant mortality rate by two- thirds from 102 per 1,000 live births to 40 per 10,000 live births); reduce neonatal mortality rate by half from 50 per 1,000 live births to 25 per 1,000 live births).

About breast cancer, the minister said free digital mammography and screening of all women between 30 to 40 years of age would initially be done at five centres to be established across the country.

These centres are expected to be functional within the next six months. “Pink Ribbon Treatment” will be provided to women in a women-friendly environment. All these centres will be run by female staff only, starting from guards to radiologists, physicians and surgeons. The centres will have in-built facilities for biopsy so that patients do not have to encounter the inconvenience of running from one hospital to other, the minister said.

Four mobile breast cancer screening vans will also be procured to reach women in hard-to-access rural areas. “They will be tested on the spot, handed over the results, and taken to the nearest facility for treatment,” he said.

Health Secretary Anwar Mehmood told the media that Rs100 million had been allocated for the cancer programme in the current PSDP, while the Central Development Working Party, scheduled to meet in August, would approve the project concept.

One in every eight women has a chance of suffering from breast cancer. Globally, breast cancer affects 85 per cent women beyond the age of 45 years and 15 per cent below 40 years. In Pakistan, 30 per cent of all cancer patients have breast cancer.