ISLAMABAD: President Dr. Arif Alvi on Tuesday said that Pakistan needs comprehensive disease prevention and health eco-system to counter communicable and non-communicable diseases and provide better healthcare to the people.
A delegation of the Royal College of Physicians UK led by Prof. Charles Twort, Chair Membership of Royal College of Physicians (MRCP) Examinations, UK, called on the president here at Aiwan-e-Sadr.
The President expressed the need for strengthening collaboration with the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) in the UK to bring about a fundamental change in the quality and standards of the healthcare system of Pakistan. He added that such collaboration would provide cutting-edge quality healthcare to the people of Pakistan and help meet the WHO 2030 targets.
The President 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 center for holding MRCP exams after Islamabad-Rawalpindi on his recommendations and 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 the exam aspirants across the country.
The President underlined the need for creating institutional capability and capacity in the health sector of Pakistan so as to retain and absorb highly qualified medical professionals and trained human resources and attract expatriate Pakistani physicians and healthcare providers back to Pakistan to meet the acute shortage of healthcare providers in the country.
He said with concern that the 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 to increase the number of trained and qualified psychiatrists, psychologists, and supporting staff on a top priority basis, strengthening the mental health care system in the country.
While commending the Future Hospital Pakistan Program of the Royal College of Physicians, the President stressed the need for forging better cooperation and sharing of best practices among the renowned medical, educational institutions, and hospitals of the country to provide high-quality health services to the people of Pakistan.
The President 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 2021-2022.
Prof. Charles Twort, Chair of MRCP-UK Exam, Royal College of Physicians, informed the President that RCP was working with partners in Pakistan under the future hospital Pakistan program, which was an entirely modern model of integrated healthcare support aimed at enhancing patient care in hospitals and community settings.
