PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Health Care Commission is launching training programme to ensure adherence to the social distancing and infection control measures, wearing face mask and hand sanitizing among the healthcare providers in private sector to prevent spread of Covid-19.

“The initiative first of its kind in the country is meant to educate healthcare providers in private health facilities to observe standard operating procedures (SoPs) during the pandemic and safeguard people and themselves from Covid-19 infection,” Dr Maqsood Ali, chief executive officer of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Health Care Commission (HCC), told Dawn.

The project will be started next week in collaboration with Comprehensive Health and Education Forum (Chef) International and Public Health Association (PHA) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Under the project, doctors, paramedics and nurses would be trained about observance of coronavirus-related SOPs in five designated districts including Mardan, Buner, Charsadda, Dera Ismail Khan and Lower Kurram.

Dr Maqsood said that they held detailed discussion with both the organisations and separate agreements would be signed with them early next week.

HCC to initiate project in five districts to stem tide of pandemic

He said that Chef International would provide full support in terms of trainings, advocacy campaign, SOPs and education of the private healthcare providers to combat the current pandemic of Covid-19 in three districts including Mardan, Buner and Charsadda whereas PHA KP would train health professionals in Mardan, Dera Ismail Khan and Lower Kurram districts.

Dr Maqsood said that those were the first such partnerships by HCC to train more than one 1,000 private health staffers and update their capacity on safety measures while providing treatment to the patients.

He said that both the organisations would also enhance the capacity of HCC staff at provincial and district level. Chef International is basically working for prevention and control of eye blindness across Pakistan and abroad. It will now support HCC to strengthen capacity of private sector to stem tide of the infection.

Dr Maqsood said that more organisations had expressed willingness to ink such agreements with HCC and begin projects in other districts for strengthening protective measures against Covid-19 in private sector.

“In our country, 75 per cent patients visit private health facilities for investigation and treatment and these facilities could become potential source of spread of pandemic, if we don’t train people about preventive steps,” he said.

He said that HCC developed the concept that was approved by Health Secretary Syed Imtiaz Hussain. “It will be extended to the whole province as many national and international organisations want to join our efforts,” he added.

Dr Maqsood said that research and development was fundamental component of the strategy to regulate both public and private sectors and enable the patients to get quality diagnostic as well as treatment services.

“The government wants HCC to focus on enhancing capacity of private sector to respond to challenges posed by the rapid spread of Covid-19 effectively,” he said.

He said that healthcare providers working in intensive care units and high dependency units adopted precautionary measures but the ones deployed in OPDs and others areas like laboratories did not follow precautions to a desired level. He said that the trained medics would act as master trainers in their respective areas.

“World Health Organisation will also support HCC to put in place infection control measures as more than 1,000 of our staffers have contracted Covid-19 despite having had PPEs,” he said.

Published in Dawn, June 15th, 2020