LAHORE:The world needs collective efforts to make it resilient to emerging diseases and impacts of climate change. “The climate change is particularly affecting Pakistan, adversely impacting its healthcare. Although, there are emergency response systems in place but there are opportunities to formalise it, perhaps with a stepped up response and a better use of resources,” says Professor Dr Jenny Harries, Chief Executive of UK Health Security Agency (UK-SHA) during an interview with The News here in Lahore on Thursday regarding UK’s support and assistance in building resilient health system with better health security in Pakistan.
Strengthening the time-honored partnership and foster mutual partnership, UK Health Security Agency has undertaken a significant mission to Pakistan. The visit, characterised by its strong resolve and shared commitment to advance healthcare systems, encompassed a comprehensive tour of pivotal healthcare institutions and important offices in Islamabad, including National Institute of Health (NIH) and ministry of National Health Services Coordination & Regulations (Mo NHSR&C) Islamabad.
The mission had esteemed engagements with counterparts, including the Federal Minister, Federal Secretary, the Federal Director General Health, and the Executive Director of the National Institute of Health. Subsequently, their visit extended to the province of Punjab, where high-level meetings were scheduled with eminent figures including Ministers of Primary and Secondary Healthcare (P&SHC) and Specialized Healthcare & Medical Education (SHC&ME), Director General Health Services and Director Health Services CD & EPC Punjab.
The mission’s concurrent visit to the public health institutions in Punjab underscores emphasis on understanding of healthcare landscape. This collaborative expedition marks the collective pursuit of bilateral healthcare diplomacy that involves mutual sharing of knowledge, best practices and experiences for betterment of global public health.
Asked about the UK-Pakistan partnership in healthcare, Dr Jenny Harries says, “I'm here supporting the organisation which oversees the Integrated Disease Surveillance & Response Project from the UK, supporting development of the work internationally, and particularly the programme that's ongoing in Pakistan to support surveillance programmes and growth in that area.
“I think what I have seen is a way of working through which, I hope, we can create sustainable approaches for Pakistan. There is great expertise here, and we learn just as much from Pakistan as they do from us. From what I see, it's been a hugely productive way of working and I can see a lot of opportunity ahead to continue that.”
Regarding her views about the healthcare practice in Pakistan, UK-HSA CEO says, “I haven't seen all of it because we are very much focused on supporting and developing international health regulations; ‘we all have to work together globally to ensure the safety and health of our communities’. There's more of a public health focus, so I have seen more of the data systems rather than the hospital systems. But there is some really high-quality work here. Yesterday I had the privilege of being able to see the HIV/AIDS work in Punjab and the work around that is of the highest quality. It is not just the testing but all of the work around that as well. I spoke with one of the Health Ministers, and they have been telling me about work that goes right back to the late 1980’s and early 90’s about control of hepatitis.
“The work around digitalization of health information is really positive, very impressive! And I think what we can do is help translate that information into action, which is a key part of public health.”
When asked about how UK-HSA supports Pakistan’s government to strengthen their disease surveillance and response systems in relation to international health regulations, Prof. Dr. Jenny Harries says, “UK-HSA started working in 2016 and it was at the time Pakistan had its first Joint External Evaluation, which assessed how well it was doing against International Health Regulations, and there were quite a lot of gaps at that time.
“There has been another such evaluation and its due for publication this year and from what I understand it's going to show huge progress on where Pakistan has come from and where it's heading. I don't think there is any country in the world that has succeeded in ticking off every box on that external evaluation but clearly, there is evidence that Pakistan has strengthened its response.”
When asked about take-home message during mission’s concurrent knowledge-sharing visit to Pakistan for strengthening the collaboration, CEO UKHSA adds, “This programme is focused very heavily on the International Health Regulations (IHR). There are three areas where there has been very strong work and I think that should continue because it will be very beneficial to Pakistan and to all of us as part of an international community.
“The first is on surveillance; on data to know what is happening, what infectious diseases there are and what the burden of disease is. The second is the creation of the Public Health Laboratory Network, having good technical facilities to diagnose disease and making sure that information is shared in a way that can be used to mitigate the impact. The third area which now Pakistan can build on is Emergency Response. There are emergency response systems in place but there are opportunities to formalize that, perhaps with a stepped response and a better use of resources. We have to look forward; climate change is affecting Pakistan, there has been a lot of floods, and outbreaks. There is a shared opportunity for learning there.
“We will in Europe and the UK, have outbreaks in dengue in due course and we are very keen to share our expertise in vector borne disease and share that with yours, which is of course, very experienced in the field.”
Prof. Dr. Jenny Harries further says, “The UK Health Security is a fairly new organization, it is based on health protection and science and one of our key areas of work is Climates and Health Security, which looks at the evidence-based data for health security. We are very keen to work with your federal government, with NIH, with provincial ministers and officials to make sure that we can share any knowledge we have, and also potentially work on joint programs between our universities and institutes. We hope that this can benefit both our countries.
When asked about here stay in Pakistan, Prof. Dr. Jenny Harries says, “It was a short visit, we have been here for four days, two days each in Islamabad and Lahore. It's been overwhelmingly positive.
“We’ve been welcomed well beyond any expectations and absolutely showered with goodwill and food as well. I will go home with amazing memories, and a much larger waistline because of all the food,” she added with a broad smile.
