Health Minister meets with officials of Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

• Dr Azra  Pechuho said that education is the most important factor.
• She said unless women are educated, their health will not improve.
• Health Minister said department is  focusing on treating anemia in girls.

KARACHI: Health Minister Sindh Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho met with representatives of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to discuss gender equality and empowerment in the province, in regard to health.

The meeting was attended by Dr Anita Zaidi President, Gender Equality Division, BMGF, Ms. Gwyn Hainsworth Senior Program Officer, Family Planning BMGF, Dr Yasmeen Qazi Senior Country Advisor, BMGF, Secretary Population Welfare, Rehan Baloch, and Technical Advisor Population Welfare, Dr Talib Lashari

Minister of Health and Population Welfare, Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho said that education is the most important factor in a person’s development. Unless women are educated, their health will not improve since education is tied to everything.

“Better and more advanced education ensures that the girls learn about hygiene, and how to care for self and the community, it will enable a delay in their marriage so they are not being impregnated while they are still children which in turn results in healthier babies, spacing between pregnancies, so healthy mothers, better economic systems for her family and the list goes on” she added.

Dr Azra added that the Sindh Health Department is also focusing on deworming and treating anemia in girls and women to reduce malnutrition in them and their children. There is also work being done to bring life skills and self-care into their education and for this purpose, there are community midwives available 24/7 in each district who aside from facilitating safe deliveries, are also trained to be community workers. They do house calls for new mothers and help identify any health or hygiene concerns. This includes help with breastfeeding, postpartum, and postnatal care and in general keeping an eye out for how new mothers are adjusting. A pilot project of this work is implemented in nine centers in Tharparkar.

She said service delivery and communication strategy are very important for the work on women’s overall health

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Dr. Azra Pechuho added that the workforce of the Lady Health Workers has been given pamphlets in Sindhi by the World Health Organisation for capacity building in the work of family planning and women’s agency and health.