ISLAMABAD, Sept 25: The federal government has worked out a project to establish district health system for dealing with women’s maternity problems, particularly concerning services in obstetrics care.

Headed by district Nazims, the system will be part of the government’s devolution plan and will be the first of its kind which will exclusively manage women’s health in collaboration with the community, official sources said.

The programme will soon be launched in 20 districts said to be under-served and will gradually be extended to other areas.

Facilities for round-the-clock obstetrics care will be provided at district headquarter hospitals. Construction of labour rooms in addition to operation theatres, provision of equipment, setting up of blood banks and other physical facilities and infrastructure will be essential feature of the system.

The traditional birth attendants and community midwives will be imparted training who will also conduct periodical awareness campaigns about women in villages. This will be done for the involvement of the local community as an active partner of the system.

A health management information system will also be set up in each district to make a database for the district hospitals to monitor the disease patterns and quality of services.

“The most important step will be the establishment of multi- sector district health management teams, represented by the health department, civil society organizations and community leaders with district Nazims as its heads.

The teams will be responsible for assisting in planning, implementing and monitoring the system.