KARACHI, Feb 21: The recent outbreak of avian influenza among chickens might have been caused by the supply of infected water to the poultry farms in and around Karachi.

This was stated by Federal Health Minister M. Naseer Khan while speaking to a group of journalists at the National Institute of Child Health (NICH) on Saturday.

The minister claimed that the water supplied to the affected poultry farms came from a lake that was frequently visited by migratory birds, which were the natural reservoir of avian influenza.

"This has been revealed by our experts, who have been working on this issue for the last several months, because we want to limit the damage that has been caused by the influenza to our poultry industry," he said.

Mr Khan said that not a single case of avian influenza involving human beings had been reported from anywhere in the country. "The government will not hide such a case," he remarked.

At a meeting in the National Institute of Cardio-Vascular Diseases, he disclosed, it had been decided that the federal health ministry would be providing funds for construction of a well-equipped laboratory there. "Other deficiencies would also be addressed by the federal government through proper funding," he added.

He said that some professionals, in their own interest, sought to transform a federal institution into an autonomous one. "This has happened a number of times. When these professionals realize that it is no longer possible for them to independently run such an organization they come back to us and request us to take it back," he added.

The minister hinted that such an episode had taken place in NICVD case. "No matter how these institutions have been made autonomous, we are ready now to help them out if they are facing financial problems," he said.

Mr Khan said that the federal health ministry had been looking into the possibilities of resorting to deficit financing so that the financial problems being faced by the NICVD could be resolved soon. "I even talked to Shaukat Aziz in this regard," the minister added.

Regarding transfer and promotion of doctors, he said that the matter should be decided on the basis of merit. He further said, "The federal government has a uniform policy on this issue. And if the provincial governments are going against the norms and traditions of good practice, we will take appropriate actions."

He claimed that the federal health ministry had never recommended "politicization of postings and transfers".

Turning to the shortage of nurses, the minister was of the view that double shifts should be run in the nursing schools of the country so that the training of a large number of students could be undertaken simultaneously. "This proposal has already been adopted in some nursing schools in Punjab and other provinces may soon follow suit," he added.

Until the nursing profession was accorded due respect and dignity, meaningful progress in the field of health-care could not be achieved, he observed.

The minister said the federal health ministry had invested considerable time and money in an initiative aimed at improving the standards at the government-run institutions in Islamabad, like Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences and Polyclinic. "Now that we are satisfied with the institutions in Islamabad, we are focussing on the hospitals in Karachi."