KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah on Friday ordered recruitment of all the 6,000 doctors who had passed the written test of the Sindh Public Service Commission (SPSC) held recently for the selection of 2,700 doctors.

What was termed an ‘unprecedented’ policy decision was taken to ensure that all the hospitals — both in the rural and urban areas of the province — could be made functional to their maximum capacity.

Mr Shah took the decision while presiding over a meeting to overhaul the health ministry to improve the deteriorating health delivery system across the province.

Health secretary Usman Chachar said the sanctioned strength of staff in the ministry was 64,701. Of them, 7,948 posts were vacant, including that of 6,153 doctors, 10 pharmacists, 23 drug administrators, 210 nurses, 1,214 paramedics and 338 lady health workers.

He said the health ministry had requisitioned 2,700 positions of doctors from the SPSC. Over 10,000 doctors had applied for the SPSC exam, 6,000 of whom passed it.

The chief minister asked him to offer jobs to all the 6,000 doctors forthwith. He ordered the chief secretary to look into the rules and sort out legal issues, employ them and report to him.

“Hospital are not functioning properly due to shortage of staff. I have already imposed emergency to provide health services unhindered to the people,” he said.

He said there were credible reports that substandard medicines were being sold in the market. The health secretary said that the drug testing laboratory was not functional. Mr Shah asked who the director of the drug control authority was. The secretary said Dr Qaiser Abbas had the charge of chief drug inspector. The CM asked how many meetings of the authority he had called and what the outcome was. He ordered the chief secretary to suspend Dr Qaiser. “There is no place for lethargic, unwilling and inefficient members in my team,” he said.

The chief minister was informed that the Sindh government had 1,791 health facilities, including rural health centres, basic health units, clinics, dispensaries, Unani Shifakhanas and homeopathic dispensaries. The government has handed 998 health facilities to the Peoples Public Health Initiative and 783 are being run by the ministry.

The secretary said the health department ran 16 DHQs, 49 THQs, 27 major hospitals and nine tertiary level care facilities. The health ministry also runs 74 health universities, medical, dental colleges, nursing schools etc.

Giving details of health indicators, Mr Chachar said the infant mortality rate recorded in 2014 was 82 per 1,000 live births; mortality rate in children up to five years was 104 per 1,000 live births.

There are 65.7 per cent births handled by skilled attendants, the figure of institutional deliveries is 64pc. There is 79.7pc proportion of antenatal care, 71.8pc proportion of postnatal care and the total fertility rate is four while contraceptive prevalence rate is 29pc.

The poor figures displeased Mr Shah who said every health indicator must be improved through concerted efforts.

Some 11 vertical programmes in health sectors are running in Sindh concerning immunisation, family planning and primary healthcare; maternal and neonatal child health; TB control; hepatitis; blindness; malaria; nutrition support; HIV/Aids; child survival; and dengue control. Mr Shah said he was not satisfied with the performance of those programme.

“I want you to re-fix your targets and show me progress of these programmes and projects,” he said. The chief minister was told that four cases of polio had been reported during 2016 which included two in Shikarpur, and one each in Jacobabad and Karachi.

Besides, some 1,193 cases of measles, including 14 deaths, were reported. Similarly, 1,367 dengue cases with three deaths were reported while naegleria fowleri claimed two lives.

The chief minister said he was committed to eradicating polio from Sindh for which “everyone has to work hard”.

He asked the chief secretary to arrange him meetings with all commissioners and deputy commissioner to give them targets. He clearly said he was not happy with the reported cases of measles.

“These diseases have been wiped out from almost all the backward countries of the world but our people are still suffering from it,” he said.

Mr Shah said he respected doctors but it was their responsibility to serve the ailing poor who had no option but to go to public sector hospitals for their treatment.

“The government is spending around Rs33 billion on non-salary expenditures of health ministry, and we expect better health delivery system.”

He said people complained that doctors in government hospitals referred them to private labs for tests and medical stores for medicines.

“This is unacceptable. I’ll not let public health service degeneration,” he said loudly.

He directed the health minister to install banners for public awareness to get medicines from the hospital and not from commercial stores.

He ordered the ministry and secretary to replace heads of various projects if they were not performing.

Mr Shah asked the health ministry to establish a command and control centre at their New Sindh Secretariat to monitor health delivery services in districts. He also ordered the ministry to develop software to keep record of their employees/ doctors.

He said like education ministry, he would bifurcate health ministry if it was deemed necessary.

`Green Sindh project’

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has said that Pakistan is one of the top 10 environmentally vulnerable countries of the world and would require special initiatives and plans to combat climate change. “Sindh is facing serious environmental issues which I am keen to address,” he ssaid.

The chief minister, who was presiding over a meeting on `Green Sindh project’ for which the Sindh government has allocated Rs30 million, said that youth of the province would be involved in tree plantation. “I am sure civil society would also help us a lot if a serious initiative is taken by the government,” he said.

Additional chief secretary (development) Waseem told the chief minister that the Sindh government had already allocated Rs200 million for the project and this amount would be matched by the federal government.

Forest secretary Rizwan Memon said that on the forest side plantation of trees, improvement of forests and plantation of more mangroves would be undertaken for the developing habitation of marine lives and protection from cyclones.

Published in Dawn, October 8th, 2016