Prioritizing education & health programmes was the most effective way to improve socio-economic status of people: President Alvi
ISLAMABAD, Feb 24 (SABAH): President Dr. Arif Alvi on Thursday said the involvement of various segments of a community including mosques, academia and health workers was important for the effective implementation of social development initiatives, particularly health and education.
Addressing here at the launch of ‘Strengthening of Social Health Protection under Sehat Sahulat Programme’, President Dr. Arif Alvi said communities could bring about social change using these platforms and improve quality of life by adopting collective solutions to address their common needs and problems.
The event, jointly organized by Health Services Academy, Ministry of National Health Services Regulations and Coordination, and German Development Agency focused on the government’s health initiatives including Sehat Sahulat Programme partnered by the German government for the last 14 years.
President Dr. Arif Alvi said prioritizing education and health programmes was the most effective way to improve the socio-economic status of people, alleviate poverty and protect families from falling into it.
He said Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf since its inception had envisioned transforming Pakistan into a socio-welfare State.
The president said Sehat Sahulat Programme was aimed at providing free of cost health insurance, initially to families living below the poverty line end subsequently to the rest.
He said the universal health insurance would prove as a big cushion for the citizens who faced costly medical treatment.
He expressed satisfaction that GiZ (German Development Agency) was working on improving the programme implementation and expansion and lauded Health Services Academy for winning the contract of third party assessment.
Dr. Arif Alvi said the nation had emerged resilient by dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic successfully and emphasized the same responsible approach in handling several other diseases.
He said various challenges required a preventive mode to address them including hepatitis, polio, malnutrition, stunting, maternal health, child mortality, diabetes and obesity.
Dr. Philip, Deputy Head of Mission at the German embassy said Germany was proud to assist Pakistan in reaching its goal of social health protection.
For the last 14 years he said, the German Development Agency provided technical assistance on Sehat Sahulat Programme with an objective to improve the health services in Pakistan.
Parliamentary Secretary for Ministry of National Health Services Dr Nausheen Hamid said Pakistan as a signatory to universal health targets was committed to addressing the challenge of health-related services for its huge population.
She said the government acknowledged the role of partners, academia and health management for effective implementation of health facilities.
Vice Chancellor Health Services Academy Dr. Shahzad Ali Khan said the objective of today’s launch was developing a ‘strategic purchasing’ policy framework for social health protection.
Meanwhile President Dr. Arif Alvi on Thursday said that instead of supporting any polarization, Pakistan desired win-win cooperation in the fields of information technology and trade with the nations for peace and development in the region.
The president, addressing the concluding session of a two-day international conference on “South Asia: Emerging Opportunities and Challenges” said Pakistan did not want to be part of any polarization as even Pakistan’s forefathers had also advocated the co-existence before demanding a separate homeland.
The president said that he was mistaken to believe that the US would have learned a lesson from the Vietnam War and would not fall into any other trap.
He told the gathering, consisting of former ambassadors and researchers, and academics, that the vested interests dominated morality in international affairs.
He said the world was looking for leadership based on morality and highlighted Pakistan’s humanitarian gestures of hosting millions of refugees contrary to Europe which let them drown in the Mediterranean, besides raping and murdering them.
Referring to Narendra Modi’s biased approach targeting minorities, the president said the BJP government was adding fuel to fire through Hindutva. He said despite the repeated commitments by the United Nations, the Kashmir issue was still unresolved owing to the vested interests of the countries.
He said Europe had decided against any more wars in their own lands but destroyed other countries in Africa and the Middle East.
President Alvi said rebuilding Afghanistan was the best opportunity for Pakistan. He said the world had spent trillions of dollars for mutually assured destructions in wars, which otherwise could have been spent to alleviate poverty.
Calling for the promotion of Chinese investment in Pakistan, the president said Prime Minister Imran Khan’s visit to Russia was of very importance.
He said information technology was the biggest opening for Pakistan and the region. However, he emphasized bridging the gap between the decision-makers and the fast-developing technologies.
He said the fake news phenomenon was getting stronger which could even destroy the countries. He said the people would see an avalanche of fake news in the 2023 general elections as around 60-70% of the social media messages circulated during the last elections in India were found to be fake.
The president said the morality protecting humanity and human rights like the women’s emancipation should be the ideals for society, instead of the vested interests.