KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah said Friday that his government with focused efforts on children’s health had successfully brought a drastic reduction in child mortality rate from 104 to 46 per 1000 live births over a period of five years.
“These are not my figures but they have been revealed in a UNICEF-supported survey – 202,” he said while talking to media just after attending a program of Childlife Foundation organized to celebrate 100,000 telemedicine consultations in Sindh at Civil Hospital Karachi. The programme was attended by Secretary Health Zulfiqar Shah, Childlife CEO Dr Ahson Rabani and others.
The chief minister said that his government had focused on children’s health and achieved a reduction in child mortality rate from 104 to 46 per 1000 live births during the last five years. “It is a big success of our child health programmes, specially launched through public private partnership,” he said and added that in 2018, Economist Intelligence Unit rated Sindh as 6th best in partnerships in Asia.
Mr Shah recalled that his government’s partnership with Childlife started in 2010 with the sole objective of improving children’s emergency care. “By 2018, free emergency service was established in five government hospitals, Karachi and now no child in the city is more than 30 minutes away from world class, 24/7, free emergency services,” he said proudly.
The CM said that in 2019, nine children emergency care centres were established in hospitals of Karachi, Hyderabad, Benazirabad, Larkana and Sukkur where more than 900,000 children were being treated annually.
The chief minister said that our partnership with Childlife Foundation had now translated into establishment of Telemedicine Satellite Centers to improve service at DHQs/THQs as 2/3rd of our population lives outside of major cities. “In 2020, telemedicine service was extended to all districts of the province and from December 2022, it would further be extended to all THQs,” he said and went on saying that by 2024, the services would be provided to all the Tehsils of the province.
Shah said that the 100,000 telemedicine consultations milestone had been achieved. “Its impact is quality consultation by Pediatric Emergency Medicine Specialists who are accessible round the clock. “The telemedicine system avoids visits to major cities, saves critical time to treatment and a huge financial burden on parents.
Other questions of media talk: The chief minister replying to a question said that the PTI government had failed to strengthen the national economy. “They [PTI] have no vision to bring the economy on the right track.
To another question, the CM said that the prime minister had taken him into confidence on closing the market by 7:00 or 8:00 pm. “I have directed commissioners, Karachi, Hyderabad and Sukkur to consult with the stakeholders so that the decision to close the market early in the evening could be implemented in the national interest,” he said.
Earlier, the chief minister visited the control room of the Telemedicine and witnessed the telemedicine procedure. He said that once fiber optic cable was laid in rural areas the entire province would be connected through telemedicine systems.