KARACHI, Dec 21: The need for an efficient healthcare policy in the country is all the most urgent the present conditions with one doctor catering to 1,578 people, followed by 35,557 attended by one dental surgeon and 3,822 by a single nurse.

According to the Pakistan Dental and Medical Council sources, the number of doctors registered with it in 1997 was 78,470 which rose to 87,105 in 1999 against 35,979 nurses and 3,867 dentists the same year.

While both the private and the public sectors are actively involved in meeting the healthcare needs of the masses, the private sector is mainly concentrating on the urban areas. Besides pursuing the allopathic mode of treatment, it also offers traditional means of treatment, particularly Tibb.

The government encourages the private sector taking initiative in the field of medicine as well as healthcare, independently as well as through entering into joint ventures with state-controlled institutions.

Yet more efforts are needed as the people, particularly women, owing to social and cultural inhibitions, are not in a position to benefit from the available facilities.

Lack of commitment and will on the part of personnel also affects the situation as despite the existence of a family welfare centre at every 93 Kms in the Punjab, at every 13.5 Kms in Sindh, at every 11.3 Kms in the NWFP and at every 47.5 Kms in Balochistan, people complain of not being provided quality service owing to the absence of staff or non-availability of required medicines and gadgets.

66 per cent of rural women in the Punjab approach these centres without formal permission of their spouses and 28 per cent complain of having a deep sense of insecurity.—APP