LAHORE, Dec 5 (APP):Prime Minister’s Special Assistant on National Health Services Dr Zafar Mirza has said that the government was working to upgrade the nursing profession by replacing an outdated three-year diploma for them with a bachelors degree programme.
He was speaking at the inaugural session of three-day 3rd International Conference on Health Professions Education (ICHPE), held here at the University of Lahore (UoL) on Thursday.
Dr Zafar Mirza said that the UoL was investing in important subject/disciplines such as healthcare system. He said that Prime Minister Imran Khan was also paying special attention to the health sector while a number of reforms had also been initiated to take the country in the right direction.
He said that unlike many developing countries where the ratio between doctors and nurses was one and four respectively, Pakistan had an inverse ratio of four doctors and one nurse, which again proved the fact that Pakistan had great talent in the medical field.
Zafar Mirza urged all medical institutions to put efforts to make the healthcare system great, adding that we have to ensure same quality of medical services for everyone.
He said that the government was making efforts to provide all basic health facilities at primary level. “We will double the number of lady health workers,” he promised.
The special assistant mentioned that the government was providing Sehat Insaf Cards to the poor people whose income was two Dollars a day or less, adding that the government would take their responsibility.
He said that the government had provided Sehat Insaf Cards to five million poor people in Pakistan and the target is 15 million poor families, adding that the government was gradually improving the health sector.
The event featuring 25 workshops is being organised by the UoL in collaboration with other medical institutes of the provincial capital.
The conference provided an equal opportunity to the faculty and the students, to learn about curriculum, assessment, communication skills, professionalism, leadership and personal development.
Conference Chairperson Prof Dr Shahid Malik, Committee Co-Chair Prof Dr Farrukh Iqbal, organising committee chairperson Dr Mahwish Arooj and scientific committee chairperson Prof Dr Rehan Ahmed Khan acknowledged the participation of delegates.
