KARACHI, Nov 12: Sindh Minister for health Dr Sagheer Ahmad has said that the government wants every needy patient to get medicines free of cost at all the government healthcare centres across the province. “We will not allow doctors to force patients to purchase medicines from outside,” he said at a press conference here on Wednesday.

He noted that sufficient funds were released to officials in charge of government hospitals for procurement of medicines for free delivery to the patients at the OPDs, as well as those admitted to government hospitals.

In order to ensure that patients were getting quality medicines free of cost at the Sindh government health establishments, the health department had decided to reactivate the almost dormant monitoring and implementation cell (MIC), he said, adding that the cell would review the functioning of various hospitals, besides procurement and supply of medicines, to patients. The cell would also monitor the status of pharmacies attached with the hospitals.

He also referred to the concern expressed by professionals and the general public over the reported sale of counterfeit, spurious and substandard drugs and medicines at medical stores, particularly in the vicinity of government and private hospitals. In this regard, he asked the drug inspectors assigned for the task of look into the matter and submit their inspection reports to his department on a daily basis.

The minister, who was accompanied by the special health secretary, Dr Abdul Majid, and the Additional Secretary (Development), Dr Khalid Sheikh, also talked about various ongoing projects and schemes of the health department, and observed that the health sector was now one of the top-most priority areas of the government.

Improved services

The minister said that the government was not only working on the elimination and preventive sides of the diseases, but was also addressing the issue of ill-equipped and staff-starved health facilities. The objective, he said, was that health care services were made available to the masses at their doorsteps in both urban and rural areas.

He announced that an inter-provincial conference on polio was being convened in Sindh on November 17. Ministers and secretaries of the health departments of all the four provinces would be participating in the conference which would discuss the rise in polio cases across the country and come up with recommendations to overcome the situation.

He said that the amount recently approved by the chief minister and transferred to the health department for dengue- related initiatives would be spent on the procurement of cell-separators, analyzers and diagnostic kits for dengue patients’ screening for three more teaching hospitals in Karachi and the interior of Sindh.

Dr Sagheer Ahmad said that the government had also released the first instalment of the allocations meant for a new scheme relating to the prevention and control of hepatitis programme, which would be launched by the chief minister in Nawabshah very soon.

He said that over 1,000 male and female doctors and nurses had been appointed on the recommendation of the Sindh Public Service Commission. Their postings were being finalized, he added. The candidates who had applied for various jobs and made to take a written test during the tenure of the previous government would be posted for two years on the basis of their domicile as directed by Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah, he said, adding that the process of recruitment in grade 1-15 was in progress.

Plight of medical students

Talking about the plight of medical students at the Ghulam Mohammed Maher Medical College, Sukkur, he said that as against the posting of three professors, three associate professors and 13 assistant professors, the strength of the faculty had now been raised to 47 to fulfil the requirement of the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council for the grant of recognition to the colleges established in 2003.

The appointments were being made and other measures taken to secure the future of the 2003 batch of MBBS students and the others qualifying later at the college. As such, he said, the PMDC would hopefully ensure an inspection of its team concerned at the earliest, he added.

The minister said that about 4,750 people would be given training in the health sector under the youth development programme launched recently by the government.

Development schemes

Highlighting various development schemes initiated under the ADP, Dr Ahmad said that some of the allocations made out of the Rs2,978 million earmarked for the purpose had already been released by the government and 13 of the schemes were likely to be completed during the current financial year.

He also made mention of a modern trauma centre to be established at the Civil Hospital Karachi and noted that if the federal government, at any stage, could not extend its committed financial support, the provincial government would bear the cost as the project was of great significance.

He said that Rs564 million was being spent on the installation of MRI and CT Scan machines in Karachi, Hyderabad, Larkana and Nawabshah.

He said the government was also working on the introduction of micro health insurance policy for the poor segment of society, indicating that about 1.2 million people were likely to benefit from the health and medical facilities this year.