LAHORE, Dec 17: Federal health minister Naseer Khan has expressed his dissatisfaction over the working of the boards of governors (BoGs) in autonomous health institutions and recommended that the powers of these bodies should be transferred to principals and medical superintendents in medical colleges and hospitals.

Talking to reporters at the Lahore airport restaurant after visiting the airport health department on Tuesday, Mr Naseer said BoGs’ existence was questionable in view of the fact that they were asking the government for funds to run the hospitals. He pointed out that these autonomous bodies were supposed to generate resources on their own, without hurting the interest of poor patients.

Mr Naseer said the government had constituted the BoGs in haste, without consulting the stakeholders. The provincial governments should have highlighted the salient features of autonomy in the press, he maintained.

“Things have gone wrong. We will make corrections,” he said. However, he cautioned that the autonomy issue could not be resolved in a day.

He also said that every doctor had an agreement with the government and must fulfil his commitment and discharge his duties honestly and efficiently.

The minister said the health department motto should be to treat all poor patients as VIPs who must be accorded proper consultation and diagnostic services as well as medicines in hospitals.

SZH: The health minister said the ‘politics’ in the federal government’s Shaikh Zayed Hospital also required to be rectified.

Answering a question about the University of Health Sciences’ occupation of the building of Shaikha Fatima Institute of Nursing and Health Sciences, Mr Naseer said the Asian Development Bank, as well as the federal government, had serious reservations in this regard. “It is a serious violation of the agreement with the international donor agency that a facility, established for a particular purpose, is utilized for an altogether different one.” As soon as the new Punjab health minister will assume his office, he said, the cabinet division would discuss the matter with him and take prompt action.

Answering another question, the minister said he would also take decisions on administrative matters like removal of the INHS director, plans to remove labs from the building and the general unrest among the future nurses and medical technicians.

Mr Naseer said the health ministry would implement a uniform National Health Policy (NHP) in all the four provinces. The new provincial health ministers would be invited to discuss the NHP. The federal government would assist the provinces in this regard.

He said the primary health care facilities from basic health units to district headquarters hospitals were under-utilized and needed to be taken care of. He also called for a change in the attitude of hospitals’ staff towards patients.

The minister said he was struggling to get the international donor agencies provide 35 million pounds to vaccinate people against Hepatitis. The government had also secured JICA’s $9.6 million for anti-polio vaccination. The number of polio cases in the country had been reduced to 83, including those in South Punjab, Lahore and Karachi.

He said he would also like to involve women MNAs, MPAs and councillors and students of medical colleges and high schools in vaccinating people against deadly diseases and checking mother and child mortality.

The minister emphasized the need for deploying efficient, dedicated and well-poised health teams at all airports in the country. He said the federal government was committed to providing proper health services at new Allama Iqbal International Airport, because different international airlines had signed agreements with Pakistan for landing at the new airport. He said the large number of travellers could also carry different diseases and needed to be screened properly.

He said the health department should also provide services at the airport to meet any eventuality effectively. He said he had asked the health department to provide him with its short- and long-term plans for all the airports to strengthen the services.