Pakistan needs preventive healthcare system for a healthy society: President Alvi

ISLAMABAD, Oct 18 (SABAH): President Dr. Arif Alvi has said that Pakistan needs comprehensive disease prevention and early detection disease health eco-system to counter communicable and non-communicable diseases which would provide better healthcare to the people and help reduce the burden on the country’s overstrained curative health system.

President Dr. Arif Alvi made these remarks while talking to a delegation of the Royal College of Physicians UK led by Prof. Charles Twort, Chair Membership of Royal College of Physicians (MRCP) Examinations, UK, who called on him, at Aiwan-e-Sadr on Tuesday.

The President expressed the need for strengthening collaboration with the Royal College of Physicians (RCP), UK to bring about a fundamental change in the quality and standards of the healthcare system of Pakistan. Such collaboration would provide cutting-edge quality healthcare to the people of Pakistan and help meet the WHO 2030 targets, he added.

President Dr. Arif Alvi emphasized that the MRCP exam was an important opportunity for medical students to improve their clinical examination, communication skills with patients and diagnosis interpretation. He also expressed his satisfaction over declaring CMH Lahore as the second centre for holding MRCP exams after Islamabad-Rawalpindi on his recommendations and expressed the need for declaring other big cities of the country as MRCP exam centres, especially in Part-II Clinical to reduce the backlog of the exam aspirants across the country.

The President underlined the need for creating institutional capability and capacity in the health sector of Pakistan so as to retain and absorb highly qualified medical professionals and trained human resources and to attract expatriate Pakistani physicians and healthcare providers back to Pakistan for meeting the acute shortage of healthcare providers in the country.

He said with concern that the estimated 24% of our population was facing mental health conditions which were causing stress and tension in society, besides increasing the vulnerability of the stressed population to resort to drug use, violence and extreme behaviors. He urged the government to take immediate, meaningful and practical speedy measures for increasing the number of trained and qualified psychiatrists, psychologists and supporting staff on a top priority basis which would strengthen the mental health care system in the country.

While commending the Future Hospital Pakistan Program of the Royal College of Physicians, the President stressed the need for forging better cooperation and sharing of best practices amongst the renowned medical educational institutions and hospitals of the country for the provision of high-quality health services to the people of Pakistan.

President Dr. Arif Alvi also appreciated Professor Aamir Ghafoor Khan for being the first Pakistan-based physician to be awarded the Practical Assessment of Clinical Examination Skills (PACES) Champion Award for the year 2021-2022.

Prof. Charles Twort, Chair MRCP-UK Exam, Royal College of Physicians informed the President that RCP was working with partners in Pakistan under the future hospital Pakistan program, which was an entirely modern model of integrated healthcare support aimed at enhancing patient care in hospitals and community settings.