CM directs health minister to hire 2,000 more doctors

Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has directed the health minister to start the process for hiring another 2,000 doctors in the province so that citizens get better services when the vacant positions of medical officers in public sector facilities are filled.

Shah gave the instructions to Minister for Health Dr Sikandar Mandhro on Friday while chairing a high-level meeting held to discuss the appointment of newly-recruited doctors, procurement of medicine, Public Private Partnership (PPP) Projects and donor-funded projects in the province.

Minister for Planning and Development Mir Hazar Khan Bijarani, Chief Secretary Rizwan Memon, Health Secretary Dr Fazlullah Pechuho and Principal Secretary to CM Sohail Rajput were among the officials who attended the meeting.

Health Secretary Health Pechuho informed the attendees that 5,402 medical officers, including 2,769 women have been issued offer letters. Of them, 5,263 have accepted and 4,376 have already joined the service.

The CM then directed the health minister to send a requisition to the Sindh Public Service Commission to recruit another 2,000 doctors to fill the remaining positions. Shah observed that the health emergency declared in the province has produced some good results but a lot is still left to be done to provide the best free of charge health facilities to each and every citizen of Sindh.

Moreover, the CM was told that medicines are procured through two ways – 15 percent locally by the hospitals and 85 percent centrally through tenders, which have been floated. Shah then directed the health department to contact owners and heads of pharmaceutical companies to get concessional rates. “I have credible information that they [pharmaceutical companies] are supplying medicines to other provinces at lower rates than Sindh,” he said, adding that this must be addressed by holding direct meeting with the companies’ heads.

Discussing the operational status of health facilities on the public-private partnership mode, the meeting was told that District Hospital Badin, 61 Rural Health Centres (RHC) and six taluka headquarters hospitals of Badin are being run by Indus Hospital.

Aman Foundation is operating an ambulance service in Thatta and Sujawal, while MERF is operating DHQ Thatta, eight RHCs of Thatta and Sujawal districts and four THQs of Thatta and Sujawal districts.

Similarly, HANDS is operating three RHCs, two hospitals of 50-60 beds capacity and 29 BHUs/dispensaries of Bin Qasim, Gadap and Ibrahim Hyderi. The total expenditures on these facilities comes come to Rs97.4 million in 2017-18.

The CM was also told that under the donors programme, a Child Healthcare Institute at Sukkur is being established with the support of a Rs4.8 billion loan from Korea, in which the provincial government is contributing Rs162.7 million. The preparation of the design of the institute is at the final stage and contractor would be hired by the end of January 2018.

“We have to further work hard to make health facilities much better, improved and within the easy reach of each and every citizen,” the CM said.