ISLAMABAD, Dec 26 (APP):President Dr Arif Alvi Wednesday said health was the top priority area of the present government which was committed to undertake reforms in the sector in order to provide efficient, equitable, accessible and affordable services to the people.
He expressed these views during his visit to the National Institute of Health (NIH) here.
The president was briefed in detail regarding the endavours of NIH. Minister for National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination Aamer Mehmood Kiani was also present on the occasion.
The president emphasized that provision of good quality healthcare to all in Pakistan should be a joint vision of all and they should work towards removing every obstacle in the way of the noble cause.
He underscored that research was essential for improvement in health systems, adding, that investment in health research was critical to meet key challenges in the health sector such as prevention and control of communicable and non-communicable diseases, maternal and prenatal conditions, childhood diseases, and nutritional deficiencies.
The president highlighted that the NIH was a national institution mandated to advise the federal government on the control of diseases by suitable methods, and investigate epidemics and other communicable diseases, conduct research on these problems using modern techniques, and achieve excellence in that regard.
He commended that the NIH was a WHO (World Health Organization) collaborating centre for viral diagnostics, regional reference laboratory for polio, national reference centre for diagnosis of Influenza, National Appellate Laboratory for quality control of drugs and public analyst laboratory for quality control of food for the federal territory, Islamabad.
The president stressed that the NIH should improve its facilities to match with international standards and strive to enhance the quality of health services for the benefit of the people.
He also appreciated the NIH’s team for their efforts towards the provision of best health services to the people of country and wished them success in their future efforts.
