ISLAMABAD: The unprecedented nature of Covid-19 pandemic and Pakistan’s historic weaknesses in the health sector require a strategic reorganisation of healthcare delivery consistent with community needs and elevation of preventive and promotive healthcare strategies, says a new report released jointly by UN Development Programme and the human rights ministry on Wednesday.

Suggesting measures that are needed to mitigate the effects of the current pandemic, and ensuring that Pakistan is better prepared and more resilient in the face of any future disasters and disease outbreaks, the report, ‘Covid-19 and Disaster Vulnerability in Pakistan’ says Covid-19 should serve as a sharp wake-up call to have an improved healthcare system with the highest hygiene and sanitisation standards in places of high human interaction, specifically in hospitals.

Minimum standards of hygiene facilities need to be maintained at all healthcare centres, the report recommended. It summarised the risks and vulnerabilities due to Covid-19 in Pakistan from a human rights perspective and offered actionable recommendations for both federal as well provincial and local governments, linked with the relevant articles of the Constitution of Pakistan, and the corresponding SDGs.

The report, a human rights-based analysis, says the coordination mechanisms that have been set up now, need to be retained and improved to deal with future health and related shocks.

Local pharmaceutical industry, food supply chains and medical research and development units should ensure that Pakistan is equipped with the capacity to deal with a protracted health emergency.

Suggests steps to enable Pakistan to prepare for future disasters, disease outbreaks

Based on the action plan developed for Covid-19, a comprehensive rights-based approach should be used to develop a holistic health emergency action plan that ensures nondiscriminatory treatment for everyone, the report suggested.

Covid-19 should be taken as a lesson for not having an operational and successfully implemented Infection Prevention and Control programme. Permanent infection prevention government bodies need to be established with clear coordination mechanisms in case an emergency like Covid-19 appears again.

About 3pc of healthcare workers have contracted the virus in Pakistan and about 58 of them have lost their lives, creating concerns for the future availability of high experience medical staff. Healthcare staff needs to be incentivised further to encourage new inductions in the health sector. Their dignity and respect need to be ensured. Overall standards of facilities for healthcare workers should be increased in terms of job security, increased salaries and pension plans.

In the medium to long term, protection measures for healthcare workers need to be enhanced to ensure resilience of the healthcare system. In collaboration with WHO and ILO, a guiding policy and implementation mechanism needs to be developed that ensures standard protection to healthcare workers against job hazard in regular times as well as in health emergencies.

All testing centres must be verified by the government with strict surveillance on operations to ensure accuracy, and efficiency. While ensuring the protection of patients’ privacy, data on new diseases should be made public for transparency and promoting future research and policy interventions.

Smooth and unhindered coordination between provinces and district authorities is absolutely essential to ensure a smooth health response to a pandemic. The Centre’s role in ensuring synergies between provincial responses is important and it needs to build provincial capacity if any province or line ministry is not integrated into the coordinated response mechanism.

Medicines and health services on non-Covid diseases must immediately be made available to avoid other health concerns. Critical patients should receive full attention by doctors, and hospitals should be operational for all services, coupled with accelerated services for health issues that have been neglected during Covid-19 lockdown.

Telehealth’s potential can be explored further to reach remote areas where health units are inadequately equipped. Availability of medicines and treatments should be ensured in all geographical areas.

A proactive approach needs to be introduced to cater to mental health issues in Pakistan, especially resulting from Covid-19.

In the long run, the emergency unit capacities need to be improved in Pakistan and population density per ICU bed needs to be lowered to ensure that emergency services are provided to maximum people when needed.Speaking at the report launch, Minister for Human Rights Dr Shireen Mazari said the government was cognisant of the multifaceted impacts of Covid-19 on the lives and livelihoods of millions of people in the country and across the globe.

UNDP Deputy Resident Representative Aliona Niculita hoped that the recommendations outlined in this report would guide the government and other development partners in their response to Covid-19, including the roll-out of the vaccination campaign and future emergencies with the aim of ensuring that no one is left behind in emergency response and recovery.

Published in Dawn, February 4th, 2021