Lofty promises come with 26pc hike in health budget

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah announced a 26 percent increase in the provincial health budget for the financial year 2017-18.

Speaking at the budget session on Monday, he said an additional Rs20 billion had been earmarked for the next budget, with special focus on enhancing routine immunisation, provision of cardiovascular facilities, provision of medicines at hospitals and control of hepatitis and malaria in the province.

“Allocation of Rs100.32 billion has been proposed for the next fiscal year as compared to Rs79.88 billion during the current financial year; a total increase of 26 percent,” he said, adding that the Annual Development Budget (ADP) for health was pitched at Rs15.50 billion, compared to Rs14 billion for the current financial year.

Declaring provision of quality health care a fundamental responsibility of the government and a basic right for all its citizens, Murad said the health care should not be a privilege for only those who could afford to pay to expensive doctors in private clinics. “The Sindh Immunisation Support Programme is of Rs8.09 billion and it will ultimately revolutionise the vaccination and inoculation process to make our future generations healthier,” he added.

Accusing the federal government of abandoning the Lady Health Workers Programme (LHWP), he said a Rs2.4 billion supplementary budgetary allocation was made to protect the LHWP. He said the program was so important and efficient at the grassroots level that the Sindh government stepped in and owned the initiative.

“We have initiated the expansion of the LHWP at a cost of Rs982.31 million. The planned expansion will spread the programme in the hitherto uncovered areas with deployment of more than 2100 LHWs.”

Murad further said the number of community midwives had been increased from 1,697 to 2,300 to improve the availability of skilled birth attendants at harder-to-reach areas, as the training had been imparted to 292 male and female medical officers of the Integrated Management of Newborn and Child Illness (IMNCI), the Essential Newborn Care (ENC), and the Helping Baby Breathing (HBB). 

“We have taken another major initiative by launching a multi-sectoral accelerated action plan for reduction of stunting and malnutrition, namely Sehatmand Sindh. A total of Rs2.4 billion are being allocated for this programme which is aimed at reducing stunting rate from the existing 48 percent to 30 percent over the next five years,” he added.

He said Rs600 million were utilised on operations of the to the Jacobabad Institute of Medical Sciences (JIMS), which was a great leap forward in the health sector, as it had been providing a state-of-the-art facility to people living in far-flung areas of Sindh as well as Punjab and Balochistan.

Other steps taken by the government include provision and installation of a cyclotron at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre at a cost of Rs197 million through outside budget grant, provision of a robotic surgery facility to the Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation (SIUT) through an outside budget grant of Rs250 million, and installation of a cyclotron for cancer patients at the SIUT Mehrunnisa Hospital, Korangi, at a cost of Rs400 million, the CM added.

Increase in grants

Lauding the performance of the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD), the chief minister said the hospital in two years conducted over 7,500 angioplasties, including multiple Percutaneous Coronary Interventions.

Considering the performance and efficiency of the NICVD, he said, the government had increased its grant from Rs1.8 billion to Rs4 billion for the next financial year.

He said an additional amount of Rs380 million had also been kept for its PCI programme to provide emergency angioplasties for poor patients.

“We would also be providing a grant of Rs695 million each for satellite centre of the NICVD at Larkana and Tando Muhammad Khan. Moreover, the establishment of the Paediatric Institute of Heart Diseases at NICVD Karachi has also begun at a cost of Rs1741.162 million,” he added.

The CM said the operations of the Children Hospital at North Karachi, funded through the JICA Grant, were being carried out at a cost of Rs1.6 billion through a performance based public-private partnership arrangement. He said Rs375 million were kept for the Mobile Health Care Units for the next financial year.

On the occasion, he also announced creation of 25,000 new posts at different levels of the health management, increase in grant for the SIUT from Rs4 billion to Rs4.5 billion, increase in the grant of the Indus Hospital Karachi from Rs500 million to Rs1 billion, allocation of Rs690.14 million for strengthening and expanding of the Extended Programme for Immunisation (EPI) and creation of 2,118 additional posts.

Also, 300 new Solar ILR Refrigerators would be provided in far-flung areas of Sindh to enhance the outreach of the programme, he added.

The chief minister also announced automation of the Sindh Health Department at a cost of Rs280 million, launching of the Hospital Waste Management Programme at all major hospitals of Sindh at a cost of Rs75 million, allocation of Rs200 million for the upgradation of THQ hospital at Sujawal to DHQ, and provision of mammographic machines to all the tertiary care facilities in the province.

Murad further announced establishment of a 200-bed hospital and operation theatre at the GMM Medical College, Sukkur at a cost of Rs. 150 million, establishment of a cancer ward at the Civil Hospital Mirpurkhas, construction of a cancer ward at the NIMRA Jamshoro at a cost of Rs107 million, establishment of the Health Management Information System (HMIS) in hospitals at a cost of Rs400 million, and establishment of a 30-bed paediatric intensive care unit at the Liaquat University Hospital, Hyderabad, at a cost of Rs50 million.

He also announced the upgradation of the the Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Maternity Homeinto 50-bedded hospital at Gulshan-e-Hadeed, Malir, strengthening and improvement of a 50-bed hospital at Surjani Town, Karachi, and strengthening of monitoring and surveillance of the health system at a cost of Rs56 million.