PESHAWAR: The International Committee of the Red Cross is assisting the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa health department to strengthen emergency and physical rehabilitation services, primary healthcare and first aid facilities in the newly-merged tribal districts and improve patient care there.

The ICRC, which in collaboration with Pakistan Red Crescent Society has been helping the militancy-stricken tribal health system to improve patients’ care since 1916, has started to support district headquarters hospitals in the merged areas to enable the people to get facilities in their own hospitals and stop travelling to Peshawar for seeking treatment.

“The ICRC has recently established rehabilitation centres in Bajaur and Khyber tribal districts where artificial limbs are made for free distribution among the handicapped persons,” Health Secretary Dr Syed Farooq Jamil told Dawn.

He said that they were trying to improve the quality of healthcare services in the newly-merged districts. The endless string of terrorism had adversely affected healthcare infrastructure and they were according special attention to strengthen health services there, he added.

International body sets up centres in Bajaur and Khyber to make artificial limbs

Giovanni Trambaiolo, the head of ICRC sub-delegation in Peshawar, told Dawn that on the invitation of health authorities in KP and merged districts, they were extending support to them to develop emergency healthcare delivery, physical rehabilitation, primary health care and first aid.

Mr Trambaiolo said that a memorandum of understanding was signed between the ICRC and health authorities in 2016 for strengthening services at Civil Hospital Jamrud in Khyber tribal district. On the success of the initiative, they entered into a framework agreement in 2018 for the improvement of health services in more facilities located in the merged districts, he said.

“Currently, we have extended support to improve health care services in district headquarters hospitals in Kurram and Bajaur,” he said. The support includes renovation of the building, provision of material to manufacture prosthesis and orthosis and training of staff for the rehabilitation of the handicapped people.

The current support in KP is in line with the ICRC’s strategy in Pakistan, which is to attain sustainability of the health systems through development of local partnerships, transfer of knowledge and expertise.

He said that the scope of ICRC’s intervention included improvement in service delivery through improved functionality of equipment and infrastructure, emergency services and response through evidence-based practices.

“To reinforce the existing capacity of staff, we are helping the hospitals through imparting trainings and giving organisational development support. We are also taking measures for infection control and making the surgical services in line with the international standards,” he said.

Mr Trambaiolo said that a total of 168 medical professionals including doctors, surgeons and nurses were trained on the standardised diagnostics and therapeutic procedures during five emergency room trauma courses.

According to him, ICRC has also trained 490 persons from police, scouts, lady health workers, media and ambulance drivers on first aid as part of its programme under which more than 1,200 health professionals have been imparted training across Pakistan since 2014.

Sources said that most of the health services in the tribal districts were in bad shape due to terrorism. They added that in the seven merged districts, there were 979 health facilities that had the services of 8,796 employees but the services given to the people weren’t up to the mark due to which the people visited outside hospitals.

Sources said that those districts had 108 posts of specialists of which 84 were vacant whereas 50 positions of women medical officers and about 200 of lady health workers and nurses were also unfilled.

Lately, the health minister has been visiting the facilities in merged districts to improve services.

Published in Dawn, February 21st, 2019