Integrated approaches enable delivery of quality healthcare to all, says WHO expert.

KARACHI -- A positive change in the health system is fundamentally linked to improvement in the basic health units (BHUs). The country faces multiple health emergencies including growing incidences of hepatitis, high mortality rates of newborns and continued prevalence of polio, all created by human failures. The process of devolution would not be completed unless powers are transferred to the local governments.

These points were highlighted by Health Minister Dr Zafar Mirza on Sunday at the concluding day of a conference organised by the Indus Health Network (IHN) at a local hotel.

Titled ICON 2020, the biennial conference was the fifth of the series since 2012 and participated by a large number of national and international experts.

It was preceded by overarching plenary lectures, symposia, workshops, and abstract and poster presentations created by children diagnosed with cancer.

The purpose of the conference was to facilitate communication across researchers, academicians, health professionals, and policymakers to promote education, research, and training in health services and to ensure sustainable capacity.

At a session titled 'Steps towards universal healthcare coverage which focused on the strategies Pakistan has adapted for achieving the Universal Health Coverage 2030', the minister spoke in detail about the health challenges Pakistan faced and described them as man-made crises.

'Growing number of hepatitis C patients, high newborn mortality rate, continued prevalence of polio and increasing population are all national emergencies, which require collaborative efforts,' he said.

In this respect, he also referred to last year's HIV outbreak in Larkana and said the factors which led to the HIV outbreak were not restricted to Sindh and present across the country.

One major reason for the spread of infectious diseases, he pointed out, was the unnecessary use of injections, which was needed to be discouraged.

'The HIV outbreak occurred due to repeated use of (infected) injections. It has been observed that the use of injection in 95 per cent cases is unnecessary,' he said.

On the universal health coverage, he said that everyone had to work jointly to achieve this target. The health system of the country currently operated at five levels; lady health workers, basic health units at the community level followed by primary, secondary and tertiary care hospitals at the upper level.

'Seventy per cent of universal health coverage could be...

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