ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will increase the number of community-based lady health workers from 89,000 to 135,000 within five years, considering the health workforce crises in the country, Abdul Qadir Patel, the federal health minister, announced at the World Health Assembly in Geneva on Tuesday.

Congratulating the WHO director and his team of experts and members on the organisation’s 70th anniversary, he said, “This anniversary signifies an important moment in global collaboration, when countries of the world came together and founded WHO, to promote health, keep the world safe and serve the vulnerable.”

Referring to the Sustainable Development Goals, initiated by WHO in order to move towards a more sustainable world, he said, “one of the goals demands universal health coverage by providing quality essential health services to people without financial hardship.”

Mr Patel said Pakistan was the only country in the region which, while recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic, had to shoulder another disaster in the shape of massive floods during 2022, displacing 30 million people, destroying crops, damaging health infrastructure and causing considerable loss of around $20bn.

He appreciated the global community, especially the United Nations secretary general, for supporting the country.

Published in Dawn, May 24th, 2023