I will introduce health sector reforms - Balochistan Health Minister

Promise

The health authorities in southwestern Balochistan have promised to devolve power from the health secretariat at the provincial capital of Quetta to lower offices at the district and division levels.

In addition to the larger issues related to public health, the provincial health secretariat also manages health staff and officials around the province.

According to Rehmat Baloch, health minister of Balochistan, the district and division-level health officials will have the authority to organize themselves and take stock of the health sector’s performance. To do this effectively, he said, the district officials will receive support from the provincial health secretariat.

“Our  district and divisional health officers had no authority to take action against the absent doctors and rest of the staff,” said Abdul Saboor Kakar, provincial health secretary of Balochistan. “The provincial secretariat is looking after all those issues. Power devolution from the secretary to the lower health sector officials will eradicate managerial complications.”

The Plan

The reforms will let regional and local health officials manage and organize health centers and hospitals. “After reforms, they will have the authority to provide facilities, promotions and others to lower-grade staff members and health activists,” Saboor Kakar, provincial health secretary Balochistan, told Truth Tracker. ”The provincial health department has forwarded reforms to the cabinet for approval. Once approved, they will be initiated at all levels.”

Background

Across the province of Balochistan, 29 district headquarter hospitals, 11 civil hospitals, 79 rural health centers, 554 basic health units, 555 civil dispensaries, 89 mother and child health centers, 23 TB control centers are functional. That makes a  total 1355 health units with a 4,378-bed capacity.

Around 326 medical professors, 281 specialist doctors, 2,600 general doctors, 1,250 trained nurses, 2,095 dispensers and technicians, 212 midwives and 1,059 vaccinators were providing  services to patients across the province.

Heath Minister Rehmat Baloch said 100 basic health units would be upgraded and hospitals with 25 beds each would be based in the following districts: Muslim Bagh, Pishin, Khuzdar, Chamalang and Dalbandin through the Workers Welfare Fund.

Balochistan Chief Minister Dr Abdul Malik Baloch has said that provision of basic facilities to doctors and hospitals is the government’s first priority. “At the same time, it is the responsibility of doctors and paramedic staff to discharge their duties with sincerity and dedication,” he added.

The health authorities have also taken action against medical staff who have not done their jobs in remote districts of Balochistan.

“The Bolan Medical College will be given the status of Health University and three more colleges will be based on division level,” said Rehmat Baloch, Health Minister Balochistan, in a phone call to Truth Tracker. “Our government is focusing on both health and education because they are the basic needs of masses. Provision of both health and education facilities were the core points of our election manifesto.”

Balochistan is a vast province with a scattered population where the Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) must be brought down to 140 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births from the 758  recorded in 2006/07, reads the Government of Balochistan and UNDP Balochistan Millennium Development Goals report.

Tracking/Fulfillment

“The current government has announced reforms in the health sector and they have allocated a huge budget for it,” said Engineer Zamarak Khan, deputy opposition leader in the Balochistan assembly told Truth Tracker. “We will have the results once the reforms are in place. We support every positive effort of the provincial government, particularly in the health and education sectors, because these are the basic needs of our people.”

He said it was the duty of the government to fulfill the promises they had made. “They are supposed to work in the light of their manifestos. Only time will tell how sincere the government of Balochistan is in its promises.”

Independent View

“The pledges made by the health minister and the process of devolution of authority to health officers in divisions, districts and tehsil level is very slow,” said Dr. Aftab Khan Kakar, General Secretary Pakistan Medical Association (Balochistan Chapter). “Until the doctors in the field are not provided facilities and authority, they cannot possibly create a model health system.”

He said the government seems to be struggling with challenges like  increasing the health budget, health sector reforms, training of technical staff, building human resources and providing facilities to hospitals. “All these are needs of the hour,” he added.

Salim Khan Kakar, a social activist and social mobilizer with Water Environment and Sanitation Society (WESS), a non-governmental organization, said: “The government has allocated higher budget for health and has pledged reforms in the health sector. We cannot exactly say that things will improve 100 percent. All sectors, including heath, need much more improvement. The previous government was not interested in the health sector. They left the health department in a very bad condition. We need more time to see if they [the current government] will really live up to the promises they have made. They have only been around for a few months.”

He said since the chief minister himself is a doctor, he has shown “keen interest” in the health sector. “They [the health authorities] have pushed the officials to be on duty,” he said.

Our Ruling

In light of the insight provided by the health authorities and independent observers and the fact that the new government has only been in office for a few months, Truth Tracker rules that more time is needed to observe the government progress on health sector reforms.