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Minister wants university status for HSA

By Our Correspondent
December 06, 2018

Islamabad : Minister for Health Aamer Kiyani Tuesday directed the Health Services Academy (HSA) to prepare and submit a new expansion plan for upgrading the Academy to the status of a university from its recently achieved degree awarding position.

Speaking at the 9th Public Health Conference, Aamer also highlighted the need to creating a more effective regulatory environment for health in various areas like Health Councils, Healthcare Commissions, and drugs and devices, among others, to ensure quality in health. “This also has the potential to address the human resource challenges in Pakistan,” he viewed.

While sharing the challenges facing the health sector, the Minister talked about gaps. “We know that health is not spread evenly throughout the country; this gap has to be minimized. Achieving Universal health coverage is one of our main priority areas. We intend to cover all of Pakistan through Insurance Programme and Health Cards by 2020,” he added.

The need to incorporate new technologies in the national health system was also flagged. Investing in health is crucial, not only to achieving local targets but also contributing towards the achievement of global health goals, speakers stated.