November 19, 2008	Wednesday	Ziqa'ad 20, 1429

KARACHI, Nov 18: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah on Tuesday inaugurated a nursing and midwifery training project at Koohi Goth Women Hospital in Malir.

Speaking at the inaugural ceremony, the chief minister said the Pakistan People’s Party-led government was keen to ensure judicious application of funds and budgetary allocations in the health sector.

“During the current financial year we have raised the budget for the health sector by 149 per cent as compared to previous years,” he said.

Mr Shah said the Sindh government allocated Rs2.50 billion for the prevention and control of Hepatitis-B and –C, followed by substantial allocation for malaria eradication and maternal mortality. “The issue is not of allocation or funding, but its judicious application and commitment on the part of healthcare providers,” he said.

The chief minister said, “Sindh needs selfless doctors like Professor Dr Adibul Hasan Rizvi. However, unfortunately we find young doctors looking for government jobs but little keen to serve in remote and backward areas.

“This is despite the fact that special rural service or remote service allowance is offered to the doctors,” he said.

Mr Shah regretted that doctors did accept postings in rural areas but soon exercised political influence to get themselves transferred to urban facilities on various pretexts including that of further education (post-graduate studies).

Maintaining that the government would continue to strengthen health programmes, he said the focus on education and health was in accordance with the slain party chairperson’s desire to have a healthy and educated Pakistan.

Appreciating the efforts of Dr Tipu Sultan, Dr Shershah Syed and Professor Sadqa Jaffery, he expressed hope that the initiative taken through a platform of the National Neonatal, Child and Maternal Health Committee to train midwifery trainers would go a long way.

He acknowledged the fact that the number of midwives at the grass-root level would have to be increased to prevent unwarranted maternal deaths effectively.

Earlier, Dr Shershah Syed said there was a serious shortfall of qualified nurses in the country with an estimated ratio of one nurse for about 4,000 patients. He said like midwives many nurses did not have a formal job description and no clear guidance on tasks and responsibilities.

“Whilst the number of properly qualified instructors was very few, a majority was employed as nursing teachers without appropriate qualifications,” he regretted.

The senior gynaecologist said that the initiative was aimed at improving and strengthening the quality of nursing education in the country through an extensive training programme that developed the teaching capabilities of the highest potential nursing faculty from across the country.

“The first batch of 31 nursing instructors had been admitted in last month and their classes have commenced a few days ago,” he said.

He said 60 women would be trained to become effective nursing instructors annually.

Prof Tipu Sultan, Dr Nighat Shah and Dr Samrina Hashmi also spoke.—APP