By Our correspondent
Parliamentary Secretary for Health Dr. Mahreen Bhutto has said that ownership and accountability are imperative to achieve the targets and goals of the Maternal, Neonatal and Child Health (MNCH) Programme at the district level.
She stated this while addressing a high-level meeting held here to review the programme’s performance.
The participants agreed that in view of the challenges facing the programme in Balochistan, on account of non-availability of quality human resource in view of the low literacy rate, special training programmes will be instituted to develop the required skills among female workers associated with the programme.
Dr. Bhutto said the health sector in Balochistan has been neglected for a very long time and special efforts should, therefore, be made to improve maternal and child health in the province. Expressing concern over the late release of and issues pertaining to the PC-1, she directed that these issues should immediately be taken up with relevant ministries.
Dr. Bhutto emphasised enhanced involvement of the local elected members for advocacy and resource mobilisation and directed that the participation of federal and provincial public representatives be ensured to achieve optimum results.
The meeting was also attended by Secretary Health Khushnood Akhtar Lashari, national head and provincial coordinators of the programme from Sindh and Balochistan, Usaid Representative Willam Conn, Paiman Chief of Party Dr. Nabeela Ali, Dr. Aman Ullah Khan from Save the Children US, Dr. Samia from Unicef, Dr. Kahut and Dr. Rehman from WHO and Dr. Saleem Wali from UNFPA.
The MNCH programme, which aims to address existing gaps in the health system with regard to maternal, neonatal and child health issues, is one of the most well-resourced, but poorly performing programmes of the Ministry of Health.