Saira sees equity, social protection as a priority for global health

Islamabad

Minister of State for Health Saira Afzal Tarar on Tuesday termed equity and social protection as a priority for global health, and while addressing World Health Assembly called for greater emphasis on equity and people-centred set of universal and transformative targets for the future.

“Health is positioned as a major contributor to other Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and reciprocally benefits from progress towards other goals as well while serving to ensure that no one is left behind,” Saira remarked.

The minister of state was of the view that addressing new health priorities without compromising existing programmes requires careful balance. “Non-communicable diseases are becoming a global challenge in developed and developing countries alike. They will sooner or later overwhelm the existing health system capacities unless rapid investments are made in disease prevention and health promotion,” she said. Noting the need to strengthen linkages between health, development and humanitarian work, a growing concern in many countries will be how to better integrate humanitarian and development assistance.

Saira informed that Pakistan is prioritizing universal health coverage and paying attention to implementation of International Health Regulations to stop spread of diseases across borders.

With reference to polio eradication, the minister of state informed the global health leadership that the country has taken major strides to arrest spread of polio with 11 cases restricted to three well-defined regions as compared to 24 in corresponding period last year. “The intensity and distribution of wild poliovirus has declined significantly. Aggressive campaigns are being undertaken in 2016 to stop poliovirus transmission with major strides in security for teams, campaign quality and monitoring,” she concluded.