Pakistan needs preventive healthcare system for healthy society: President

• President Alvi said Pakistan needs comprehensive disease prevention and early detection health eco-system
• The president was talking to a delegation of the Royal College of Physicians, UK
• He expressed satisfaction over declaring CMH Lahore a centre for holding MRCP exams

ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi said that Pakistan needs comprehensive disease prevention and early detection health eco-system to help reduce the burden on the country’s overstrained curative health system.

The president 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.

The president expressed the need for strengthening collaboration with the Royal College of Physicians (RCP), UK to bring a fundamental change in the quality and standards of the healthcare system of Pakistan.

He said such collaboration would provide cutting-edge quality healthcare to the people of Pakistan and help meet the WHO 2030 targets. He further 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.

He 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 exam aspirants across the country.

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

He said with concern that an 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 Programme 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 for the provision of high-quality health services.

He 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 informed the president that RCP was working with partners in Pakistan under the future hospital Pakistan programme, which was an entirely modern model of integrated healthcare support aimed at enhancing patient care in hospitals and community settings.

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