National meeting was called by the Planning Commission, inviting all provinces to deliberate on the lessons learnt during the COVID-19 pandemic response and identifying the key priority interventions for strengthening the health systems here in Islamabad on Wednesday. Meeting chaired by Member Social Sector, Dr Shabnum Sarfraz, the meeting was a part of a series of coordination meetings organized by the Federal Ministry of Planning, Development and Special Initiatives (MoPD&SI) for development of national plans on ‘Health Up gradation in THQs and DHQs’ and ‘Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response Systems’. These national plans are amongst the four priorities identified for the federal funding of PKR 70 billion earmarked for COVID19 in the PSDP 2020-2021. These federal funds are reflective of the commitment of the Government of Pakistan to support the provinces in their COVID-19 response and preparedness planning.
Dr Sarfraz apprised the forum of the progress made since the last national consultative meeting which included the constitution of technical working groups at the federal level to facilitate the planning process, the national health facility assessment currently being executed for a rapid data stock across all the Tehsil and District Headquarter Hospitals of Pakistan, and the technical resource mapping underway. She said that it was a matching grants scheme which shall be developed as per the specific needs of each province who will be awarded the moneys to execute the same. She elaborated on the role of the planning commission which was to offer to offer coordination, technical back-stopping as may be required by the provinces during the planning phase and later monitoring the progress as per milestones agreed by the provinces.
Member Social Sector urged the provinces to help fast track this planning process utilizing the existing technical resources and assessments in place so that the monies can be awarded at the earliest and provinces can precede with implementation. All the six provincial health departments made presentations on the challenges faced and lessons learnt during the COVID-19 pandemic. They further listed key priority interventions included in their provincial ADPs 2020-21 for COVID-19 response.
Speaking at the occasion, Secretary Planning & Development Balochistan said that the covid19 pandemic exposed areas requiring provincial health systems’ strengthening. He stressed on the need for health human resource capacity building for dealing with similar future situations. He also appreciated the role of NDMA in supporting the province in effectively addressing the pandemic. Secretary Health Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Syed Imtiaz Hussain Shah, informed that KPK increased its COVID19 testing capacity from nil in March to approximately 5,000 tests per day though testing centers that were established with support of NIH across the province. He shared plans for establishment of a 250-beded infectious diseases hospital in KPK with guidance from NDMA based on their recent experience of establishing an infectious disease hospital in Islamabad. Full support of KPK health department was committed towards the Planning Commission for development of the health plans. Special Secretary, Specialized Healthcare Punjab shared that the critical care and intensive capacities were extensively enhanced across all the tertiary hospitals in Punjab in response to COVID-19. Speaking at the occasion, Special Secretary, Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department Punjab, Mr Ajmal Bhatti informed that establishment of a communicable disease center is a priority initiative for the Government of Punjab. He welcomed the federal support to the provinces for executing this vital initiative.
Dr. Kazim Hussain Jatoi, Secretary Health Sindh appreciated the coordinated response of the federal and provincial governments during COVID-19 and lauded the forums if NCOC for instituting an effective response strategy. He talked about the provincial telemedicine initiatives whereby 1000 doctors were providing round-the-clock tele consultations to patients quarantined at homes. Special Secretary Health Azad Jammu & Kashmir, Sohail Azam highlighted the critical priorities of the province which included trained human resource for managing critical care and infectious disease patients. He mentioned that at the start of pandemic there was no testing facility available for COVID-18. He appreciated the support of NIH for setting-up the testing facilities in the region very early into the epidemic. He shared the challenges of successfully managed an infux of 30,000 overseas Pakistanis in AJK during March and April.
Director General Health Gilgit Baltistan health mentioned paucity of oxygen supplies as one of the biggest challenges during the pandemic and appreciated the federal support in addressing the same. He also highlighted that the region experienced a huge influx from other provinces, which resulted in rising case load. He informed that GB has made it mandatory for all visitors to have a COVID-19 clearance certificate.
Chief Public Health Lab Authorities at National Institute of Health, Dr. Muhammad Salman, made a comprehensive presentation on the national public health lab infrastructure, and provided an overview of recent and past policy and technical resources developed by NIH which could aid fast planning for a national public health network. Dr. Sabeen Afzal from MoNHSRC spoke about the critical role of public health legislation and challenges imposed due to the devolved health mandate. She informed that the M0NHSR&C is currently mapping health human resource capacities required for effective disease surveillance and response. Federal Director General Health, Dr Safi appreciated the coming together of all the provinces and informed that multiple guidelines and SOPs have been developed over the last four months that are freely available for use by all the provinces.
Dr Sarfraz appreciated the insightful presentations and said that “we cannot conquer this pandemic alone or even if one province lags behind”. She said that a holistically approach across all provinces is critical to the success of these initiatives. She added that our journey in the past few months has been commendable i.e. from where we were in March 2020 to where we are standing today. She said that “After Allah, it is the leadership on the ground that has proven to be decisive in effectively handling this pandemic.”
The provinces unanimously appreciated the efforts of federal government in general and the Planning Commission in particular for their commitment and support towards building their health systems, strengthening their human resource capacities and instituting mechanisms for a resilient and effective health infrastructure. They assured their full commitment towards the Planning Commission for finalizing the plans. The meeting was attended by senior officials from the MoNHSRC&C, NIH, Health Services Academy, Finance Division, Planning Commission, and Provincial Planning and Development and Health Departments.
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