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Special packages for doctors in quake areas

PESHAWAR: The NWFP government has made a plan to rehabilitate health infrastructure in the quake-hit districts and to offer special salary packages to health professionals posted there.

Speaking at a workshop on ‘District health planning and advocacy,’ at the Khyber Medical College (KMC) on Wednesday, Health Secretary Abdul Samad Khan said that the provincial government had decided to offer a monthly salary of Rs 80,000 to the doctors serving in the affected areas.

He said the government had initially sanctioned a Rs 90 million grant to purchase medicines.

The health secretary appreciated the efforts of the executive district officers (EDOs) in making development plans with the technical assistance of the World Health Organisation (WHO). He said the Health Department would ensure the provision of human resources in the affected areas.

WHO Country Representative Dr Khalif Mahmud Bile stressed an enhanced planning and financial discipline at the district level to ensure an appropriate use of the allocated fund. He said the WHO, in collaboration with the local authorities, was striving to strengthen the capacity of the existing health facilities.

Bile said the workshop was meant to impart planning skills to district and provincial health teams and to build their capacity. He suggested that district-level health plans should be reviewed on a monthly basis.

He said there should be balance between the available resources and spending on various projects. He said joint efforts were needed to raise the living standards of quake-affected people.

The workshop participants were informed that the WHO, the Earthquake Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Authority (ERRA) and the NWFP Health Department were making efforts to build the planning capacity of the district health management teams. staff report

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