ISLAMABAD: Saira Afzal Tarar, Minister of State for National Health Services, Regulation & Coordination has said that the government of Pakistan recognizes Health as a key for the development of our great nation.
The vision of the Health Ministry is to work for the promotion of Health-for-all, a vision that strives for access, equity, efficiency and effectiveness of essential health interventions catering to the rights, needs and dignity of all segments of the population while addressing the National Dissemination National Blood Policy and Strategic framework 2014-20 on Thursday in Islamabad.
She said the health of our population plays a pivotal role in yielding the true potential of the human capital. Improvement in the quality of public health services in Pakistan has been accorded due importance by the present government. We are focusing on the health priority areas – reduction of prevalence of communicable diseases, especially childhood diseases, TB, Malaria, HepatitisB, Cand HIVAIDS; addressing inadequacies in health care services, especially at primary and secondary levels; improving the District Health System; promoting gender equity; improving the nutrition status of the population; strengthening rural interventions; health education and capacity building for monitoring and evaluation.
She said one of the areas which call for special attention remains the inadequately regulated healthcare services. Therefore, with inputs from various experts and stakeholders, the draft of the Federal Health Regulatory Authority Bill has been finalized by the Ministry of National Health Services. The Bill will soon be placed before the Cabinet for its approval. The proposed Act aims to create a regulatory body which will regulate healthcare services, health education, standardization, certification, quality assurance and registration of healthcare facilities. Once enforced, no healthcare establishment will be able to render any healthcare services unless it is registered with the Registration Board of the FHRA.
She said the regulation of the blood transfusion services is among the Ministry’s priority areas. We are addressing this challenging task with compassion, commitment and dedication. Indeed empowered and effective regulatory systems are an essential pre-requisite for an efficient and reliable blood transfusion service. The Ministry is makingsincere efforts to strengthen the regulatory authorities in the blood sector not just in the federal capital but also all over the country. A practical model of effective and efficient regulation has been developed in Islamabad which is customized according to the national needs and requirements. The same model can easily be emulated in the provinces. This measure will go a long way in having uniform standard of service delivery in the country.
She further said the government acknowledges the generous grant provided to the blood safety project by the government of the Federal Republic of Germany through its Technical and Financial Cooperation components funded by GiZ and KfW respectively. Indeed, the German government commitment to this project is very praiseworthy. Through the German funding, in the first phase, new infrastructure has been developed throughout the country including the construction of 10 modern Regional Blood Transfusion Centers and renovation of 60 linked Hospital Based Blood banks and associated trainings and other supporting technical preparations.
The government also acknowledges the World Health Organization and USAID for providing technical support to the Programme for the awareness and prevention of transfusion transmittable infections and promotion of voluntary blood donations.
The support of the GIZ in developing the National Blood Policy and Strategic Framework has been remarkable and is very much appreciated. The Framework provides orientation for implementing blood safety system reforms to the national and provincial blood transfusion programmes.
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