KARACHI: The health department signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the World Health Organisation (WHO) on Friday under which the latter would rehabilitate 150 flood-hit primary healthcare centres in 21 districts in the province.

The MoU was signed at a ceremony held at the EOC Sindh office on the occasion of World Health Day.

Dr Palitha Mahipala, WHO Representative and Head Of Mission Pakistan, Health and Population Affairs Minister Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho, Dr Muhammad Juman Bahoto, the director general of health service, and others were in attendance.

Under the MoU, the global organisation will rehabilitate 150 health facilities whereas the provincial health department will ensure the continuity of health services through human resources and ensure supplies from the health system.

In response to the last year’s floods, WHO has strengthened 76 labour rooms, five neonatal intensive care units and five comprehensive maternal service centres in flood-affected districts of Sindh and also strengthened and established a total of 45 nutrition stabilisation centres in Sindh.

For the improvement of routine immunisation, WHO has supported the refurbishment of 414 Expanded Programme for Immunisation (EPI) centres all over Sindh, 66 of these being refurbished and renovated during 2023 alone.

At the ceremony, the health minister and WHO representative Dr Mahipala also discussed the solarisation of different vaccine storage facilities in the province as well as the prevalence zero dose children that will be targeted through the EPI and WHO.

She also thanked WHO for all the support it had provided in the province and the work they were continuing to do in partnership with the health department.

Dr Pechuho suggested that there should be fixed sites for vaccination to save vaccinators’ time and that the community was made aware of these fixed sites.

Published in Dawn, April 8th, 2023