Representative of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Pakistan, Dr. Palitha Gunarathna Mahipala, has announced that Pakistan is experiencing a Human Resource for Health (HRH) crisis because the available workforce can only cater to one-tenth of the country’s needs.
He visited the University of Health Sciences (UHS) in Lahore on Monday and said that Pakistan urgently requires 200,000 nurses. He also urged the Government of Pakistan to take measures to increase its health sector workforce.
Dr. Mahipala remarked,
No healthcare system can deliver quality care without the input of trained, committed professionals, including quality doctors and nurses.
He lauded the UHS and how it has prioritized primary health care by enhancing family medicine. He also praised the UHS’s part in medical education and hinted at making it WHO’s collaborating center in an area of common interest in the future. Furthermore, he told its administration to devise a five-year development plan for its programs and assured WHO’s support.
Dr. Mahipala mentioned that the primary focus is universal health coverage, and Pakistan’s target is 60 percent by 2030. Moreover, explained that primary care is the most comprehensive healthcare and should not be limited to giving a few medicines to the patients.
UHS Vice-Chancellor (VC), Ahsan Waheed Rathore, gave a presentation on the institute’s functions and accomplishments and said that it runs 110 postgraduate and 26 undergraduate programs. He affirmed that the country is facing a shortage of nurses and allied health professionals, and mentioned that the university is introducing undergraduate and postgraduate programs in these fields to overcome their shortage.
The VC mentioned that the UHS’s excellent performance is indicated by the H-index of 30.5 (a numerical indicator of how productive and influential a researcher is), and revealed that a research coordination center has been developed to bring the entire research activity under one roof.
The Head of WHO Punjab, Dr. Jamshed Ahmed; Registrar UHS, Dr. Asad Zaheed; and other senior faculty members also attended the meeting.
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