ISLAMABAD, Aug 30: A high-level meeting on Wednesday accorded conceptual clearance to establish a Regional Centre for Emergency Preparedness and Response in Pakistan.

Presided over by health secretary Anwar Mehmood, the meeting was told that the centre would help contribute in regional and national disaster reduction and management efforts into a sustainable development programmes from the health sector perspective. It would also help develop system and capacities for efficient emergency response.

In his presentation, Dr Jehanzeb Aurakzai, Director National Institute of Handicapped informed the meeting that the objective of the centre was to prepare health care system to respond immediately to any public health risks that might arise as a result of any major disaster.

More specifically, the centre would oversee the development of the health sector preparedness and response plans for Pakistan at the federal, provincial, district and community levels and would also link regional plans.

It would also strengthen community-based emergency and risk management through education and training programmes.

The centre would be able to establish core capacity for the overall management and response to emergencies at the level of the health sector at all levels of the system, implementing readiness measures and response capacities at all levels.

It will help in coordinating and making liaison with other international and regional disaster management programmes and parallel national supportive services such as logistics, communication, transport, police and the meteorological departments.

The centre will embrace on all hazard approach taking all major risks and hazard threatening the life and well being of population and that could exceed the coping capacity of the affected local community.

The meeting was also attended by Director General Health Shahida Malik, Inspector General Hospitals Dr Abdul Majid Rajput, Vice Principal Army Medical College Rawalpindi Maj Gen Abdul Qadir Usmani, representative of WHO (World Health Organization) and senior officials of the Health Ministry.