Government should pay more attention on the prevention of diseases:International Health Experts

Lahore: Government should pay more attention on the prevention of diseases. A good referral system can decrease the burden of patients in teaching hospitals. There is a need of behavioral change for making access of Lady Health Workers to the households.

These views were expressed by the medical experts Dr. Zafarullah Chaudhry (Bangladesh) and Dr. Jeffry S Hammer (UK) from International Growth Centre, at Institute of Public Health here today. The experts delivered lectures on the new interventions for the improvement in public health and policy making. Dean IPH Prof. Dr. Muaz Ahmed, Dr. Shahid Malik, Prof. of Epidemiology Dr. Farkhanda Kokab, Chief Bacteriologist Dr. Zarfishan Tahir and large number of doctors attended the conference.

Dr. Zafarullah Chaudhry talked about the new interventions for the prevention of diseases and healthcare of pregnant women and children. He said that a healthy lifestyle needs a good public health system. He shared his experience of Bangladesh and said that in Bangladesh lady health workers visit small villages in very remote areas on bicycle for providing basic healthcare to the pregnant women and children and creating awareness among the folk women. He said that by providing training to the Traditional Birth Attendant of the village, we can curtail the mortality rate of pregnant women and infants. He said that collusion between doctors and pharmaceuticals has deprived the poor from the medicines at lower price.

Dr. Jeffery S Hamers said that government should spent tax payers money on the provision of facilities to the people efficiently. Giving the example of his experiences in India, Dr. Jeffery said that doctors do not pay attention on the patients and disappointed from the attitude of public sector doctors, patients go to the private doctor where they get treatment at a very high cost. He urged that government should pay more attention on the improvement of primary healthcare.

Dr. Jeffery further said that when a qualified doctor did not pay proper attention to the patients the difference between a doctor and a quack diminished. He said that there should be a system to check the doctors so that proper healthcare could be provided to the people.