Government-UN ink agreement to implement $384.7m health plan

Staff Report

ISLAMABAD: The government and 14 United Nations agencies working in Pakistan on Thursday signed a $384.7-million agreement for improvements in the health and population sectors in the country.

The government and the UN agencies have planned and developed a two-year joint programme in this regard, which is expected to be completed in 2010. The agreement was signed here by the federal secretaries of health and population welfare -- Suleman Ghani and Nayyar Agha – World Health organisation (WHO) representative Dr Khalife Bile and officer in-charge UNICEF Luc Chauvin.

Federal Secretary Farukkh Qayyum and the heads of various UN agencies were present.

Fourteen UN agencies involved in this programme include FAO, ILO, IOM, The World Bank, UNAID, UNDP, UNESCO, UNFPA, UNHCR, UNICEF, UNIFEM, UNODC, WFP and WHO, while the programme is being co-chaired by WHO and UNICEF. The main areas of intervention are mother and child care health (MNCH) and primary health care (PHC), communicable disease control, nutrition, health promotion, health systems development, HIV and AIDS. The vision of the programme was based on the ‘Health for All’ approach, through five well-targeted components, which would be treated in a holistic manner to ensure linkages and common concerns were well articulated.

Issues of maternal health were linked to family planning and reproductive health, which were further reinforced by interventions of health promotion and nutrition; communicable disease management and control including HIV and AIDS; attitudinal changes in a health life style to bring about better health behaviours. Finally, support to the health sector was encapsulated in credible health systems, including capacities for human resource development, financing, quality control and effective governance. The programme would be implemented over a period of two years, with emphasis on initiatives that would address the priority areas of the government.

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