NHS ministry to undergo rightsizing, not complete abolition: officials

ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination (NHS,R&C) is not going to cease functioning from August 1, health ministry officials clarified on Wednesday, adding that discussions were underway for the right-sizing of the health ministry as well as merger and devolution of some of the health departments, which will take some time.

“Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination is not being abolished; instead, it’s right-sizing is being planned. Some of its departments will be merged with other departments, some will be devolved to the province, and some functions of the ministry will be retained,” a senior official at NHS,R&C told The News on Wednesday.

He maintained that last week, Federal Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb chaired a meeting regarding the right-sizing of the health ministry. It was decided to right-size the ministry as some of the functions had to be devolved to the provinces. However, the majority of departments and institutions would remain attached to the national health ministry.

“All the regulatory, training, and research institutions will remain under the control of the federal health ministry. All the councils, including the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC), Allied Health Professionals Council (APHC), and Pakistan Nursing and Midwifery Council (PNMC), will remain under federal control,” the health official added.

Regarding the polio eradication and vaccination programs, the federal health official said the procurement of vaccinations for the provinces would also remain with the federal government. On the request of donor agencies, provinces had authorized the federal government to procure vaccines for them. Similarly, the polio program would also remain under federal control.

“As far as vertical programs are concerned, some of them would be devolved to the provinces, but some of them would remain federal subjects. The Prime Minister’s Hepatitis Control Program has just been launched, while some functions of other programs, including TB, Malaria, and HIV/AIDs, could be transferred to the provinces,” he added.

“Similarly, education and training are centralized subjects, so institutions like the National Institute of Health (NIH) and National Institute of Population Studies (NIPS), which conduct research and training, can’t be devolved to provinces,” he added.

Regarding the hospitals being run in the capital, including the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), Federal Government Polyclinic, and Federal Government Hospital (FGH), he said as these hospitals were functional in the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT), they could not be devolved to the provinces.

“Sheikh Zayed Hospital Lahore can be devolved to the provincial government, but hospitals in the capital would be retained by the federal government,” he maintained.

On the other hand, during a visit to different sections of the ministry of health on Wednesday, it was observed that officials and staff were working normally. Health ministry officials said they had not been given any deadline or directives to hand over their tasks and responsibilities to any other ministry or department.

“We are also hearing rumors about the fate of the ministry of national health services, but no official notification, office order, or directives regarding the fate of the ministry have been conveyed to us,” an official at the ministry of health said.