PESHAWAR: The health department is set to launch a three-year Integrated Health Systems Strengthening project across the province and Service Delivery Support project in two designated districts.

The projects meant to improve patient care and ensure the minimum health delivery package at the public sector hospitals focus on immunisation, mother and child care as well as training of staff, according to a document seen by Dawn.

A summary in this connection has been sent to the chief minister for approval, it has been learnt.

Two initiatives planned with focus on immunisation, mother and child care, and staff training

The Integrated Health Systems Strengthening will cover the entire province, whereas the Service Delivery Support is aimed at strengthening the capacity to deliver integrated, quality and equitable health services in Swabi and Karak districts.

The USAID-funded projects will be implemented through JSI Research and Training Inc, Jhpiego Corporation, Contech International, Rural Support Programs Network and Palladium International to strengthen systems and service delivery.

The local Pakistani partner organisations will focus their attention at district and community levels, while international partners will provide technical assistance at the provincial levels under the projects.

The projects seek to improve level of health leadership, workers’ performance, governance, financing, spending efficiency at federal, provincial and district level and integrated, equitable, quality services in targeted districts based on epidemiological ranking and political willingness to improve health services.

The health department wants to ensure the Minimum Health Service Delivery Package (MHSDP) by adopting innovative, technical approaches and the best practices.

The use of targeted technical assistance at the provincial level to reinforce the government’s commitment and enhancement of capabilities to carry on the work beyond the life of the projects in line with the federal standards and documentation of public and private sector delivery systems with focus on a few key interventions.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will be focus of provincial level systems strengthening and service delivery activities, the successful interventions and activities will be propagated to rest of the provinces, regions and territories of Pakistan with support of federal government.

The Integrated Health Systems Strengthening Project developed in a way that could be replicated in other provinces seeks to gaining KP’s commitment as well as improving coordination from the federal to provincial to district and community levels.

For community level work, it will adapt successful innovative approaches to bring community health solutions, voice and accountability and de-radicalisation of youth by actively engaging the private sector and community health workers.

It aims at building a flexible health system while engaging stakeholders at all levels is the best way to attain a high performing health system that can be sustained in future.

To achieve the purpose, it will focus on increasing investment in health with improved accountability, building the skills and capacities at individual, institutional and systems levels, bringing clarity in roles and responsibilities of different institutions and organisation engaged in reform, developing vertical and horizontal linkages among institutions and organisation for rolling-out the reforms agenda in a harmonised manner.

Additionally, the project aims to enable the health department in performing realistic and rational planning along with output-based budgeting, institutionalising quality of care through compliance to standards at health facilities, inculcating the culture of use of information and scaling up interventions following monitoring, evaluation and learning approach.

The programme to be implemented shortly will focus on immunisation, mother and child care, emergency services and training of staff at the public sector hospitals of the province.

Published in Dawn, January 21st, 2018