Increasing the allocation for the health services by 19 percent for the fiscal year 2019-20, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah said on Friday they had allocated Rs114.4 in the provincial budget as compared to Rs 96.8 billion in the corresponding year.
He said funds would be provided to run three major Karachi hospitals, including the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD), Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Center (JPMC) and the National Institute of Child Health (NICH).
“We have established an endowment fund with Rs1 billion for the treatment and rehabilitation of the children and people who have been found infected with HIV in the province and they would be provided anti-retroviral medicines as well as other services for rehabilitation,” Shah told the provincial assembly while making his budget speech.
He further said the government accorded high priority to the health and well-being of the people of Sindh and significant investments had been made over the years in the preventive programme -- primary health largely through PPHI.
“Many major health institutions and hospitals have been provided funds both through grants as well as development financing such as the Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation, Indus Hospital, Gambat Institute of Medical Sciences, Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, National Institute of Child Health.”
Announcing an at least 10 percent enhanced allocation for the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD) with its eight satellite units and nine mobile chest pain units in Karachi, the CM said it was unfortunate that the federal government issued a notification of taking over control of the NICVD, the JPMC and the National Institute of Child Health (NICH), three major health facilities in the province, without any discussion with the provincial government on devising a mechanism for such transfer.
“This decision has created uncertainty and ambiguity that has affected the service delivery system. The Ministry of National Health Service should have held preparatory meetings with us to have devised the mechanism. We have already filed a review petition in the Supreme Court of Pakistan and expect that our contribution will be recognised and hope for the favourable outcome,” he added.
The chief minister maintained that the Sindh government had made significant investments in the three health facilities and some of our projects were in the pipeline. “With hard work and dedication, we have transformed the JMPC, NICVD and NICH into state-of-the-art institutions with huge budgetary allocations directed for their improvement and expansion.”
He maintained that when the federal government handed the NICVD over to the provincial government, its allocation was Rs355 million in the year 2011-12, which was gradually increased to Rs8.876 billion in 2018-19 by the Sindh government.
“Our government has given special attention to manage cardiovascular diseases. In this regard, the NICVD has done commendable job and it is the biggest centre for the treatment of heart attack and primary angioplasty in the world. It is providing timely and accessible cardiac services to the people of Sindh at their doorsteps totally free of cost.”
The CM claimed that that there were six chest pain units functional in Karachi, but in the current year, they added three more CPUs in Karachi, adding that this service was one of its kinds and was available for 24/7 throughout the year. Chest pain units were launched for speedy access and fast diagnosis with early initiation of treatment, he added.
“Last year we established NICVD satellite centers at Tando Muhammad Khan, Larkana, Hyderabad and Sehwan in collaboration with the government of Sindh while this year we have established four new NICVD satellite centers at Khairpur, Sukkur, Mithi and Nawabshah. These are modern and well equipped cardiac facilities are providing 100 percent free of cost, round the clock cardiac emergency care by internationally and locally trained cardiac specialists, paramedical staff and technicians.”
Claiming that they had also improved infrastructure and service delivery at the JPMC considerably, Shah said the emergency department in the JMPC and its Cyber Knife Project had already begun functioning. “We feel the provincial government is running these institutions in a best possible way because we are very close to them. Therefore, the Sindh government should be allowed to help them flourish further under its administrative control.”
Giving details of other schemes in the health sector, the chief minister said a 50-bed medical & surgical ICU, casualty and OPD departments had been established at the Liaquat University Hospital and Ghulam Muhammad Mahar Medical College Hospital, Sukkur.
“Strengthening of monitoring & surveillance of health systems” had been launched with the assistance of USAID and a Health Management Information System (HMIS) had been developed for better governance, he added. Several multi-disciplinary services, like pediatric cardiology, have been added to the SIUT, vaccinators’ strength enhanced to 2,768 while recruitment of additional 1,733 vaccinators is in process, he said, adding that the TB Control Program established 350 TB DOTS clinics, installed 110 machines for rapid diagnosis of TB and drug resistance within two hours in public sector facilities.
Announcing the procurement of machinery/equipment for different departments at the CMC Hospital Larkana at an estimated cost of Rs600 million, he said the Community Mental Health Services Program in Sindh with an estimated cost of Rs275.00 million to improve the mental health services was also being launched.
The Government of Sindh is providing Rs5.6 billion to the SIUT as a grant in the next financial year (2019-20) to sustain its services at Karachi and for its new initiatives in other cities. Considering the quality services of liver transplantation provided at Pir Abdul Qadir Shah Jeelani Institute of Medical Sciences, Gambat, District Khairpur Mirs, the PPP government has increased the grant by 60 percent from Rs2.00 billion to Rs3.6 billion during the financial year 2019-20. Considering the need of blood diseases’ treatment for the poor masses, the government had allocated an amount of Rs500.00 million for the financial year 2019-20, he added.