KARACHI: Secretary Health Sindh Zahid Ali Abbasi has said that ChildLife Foundation (CLF) is running very successful Children Emergency Rooms in government hospitals under the public private partnership.
He was speaking at the World Bank’s workshop on ‘Maximizing Impact Through Public-Private Collaboration in The Health Sector”. He said the government of Sindh is working on different models in the healthcare sector since the government cannot deliver alone in this sector.
“Sindh is leading in promoting public private partnership and it is heartening to note that our partners including ChildLife Foundation have set examples for other provinces.
“I have witnessed excellent standards and emergency care ChildLife Foundation provides in Sindh and it is good to know that this CLF model is to be replicated in other parts of Pakistan as well,” he added.
Meanwhile, Chief Executive ChildLife Foundation Dr Ahson Rabbani said that Public Private Partnership is doing wonders for Pakistani children as CLF is saving lives of around 1 million children every year in Sindh and Balochistan while around 3 million children have been treated up till now.
He said Pakistan’s largest mortality is that of children under-5 years of age as approximately 400,000 children die every year.
“In order to minimize this death ratio by about 50%, CLF has transformed Pediatric Emergency Rooms of all government teaching hospitals in Sindh and Balochistan,” said Dr Ahson.
“The survival of critically ill children has quadrupled since then,” said Dr Ahson, adding that their vision is to transform all 40 plus Pediatric Emergency Rooms in government teaching hospitals of Pakistan.”
Also, he added, Tele-Medicine Satellite Centers will also be established at government hospitals across all tehsils.
Currently, Tele-medicine sites are operational at Sindh Government Hospital New Karachi; District Headquarter Hospital, Mithi; and Syed Abdullah Shah Institute of Medical Sciences, Sehwan, and THQ Hospital, Ghotki.
Dr Ahson said that the mission of CLF is ‘Saving the Future of Pakistan’ by facilitating rapid access to quality urgent medical care and to intervene with established cost-effective preventive measures.
Meanwhile, World Bank Health Economist Jahanzaib Sohail on the occasion said that the World Bank is working around the world to promote public private partnerships.
“When we got engaged with the government of Sindh for primary health care (PHC) in 2018, we realized that public private partnerships are needed to improve healthcare facilities here.
“Hence, it is time to build and enhance PPPs in the healthcare sector. If we completely ignore the private sector, it would be a daunting task for Pakistan,” he concluded.