KARACHI- Sindh government has allocated as many as Rs 17 billion for development budget of Sindh Health Department with a claim that in recent years health services have been improved in the province.During the budget speech, government claimed that 1137 Rural Health Centres are being managed by the PPHI.Over 1,500 doctors and 2,500 paramedic staff are working under the umbrella of PPHI. The government is annually spending Rs I22.00 billion in primary, secondary and tertiary care services along with a specific focus on following preventive programmes: Expanded Programme of Immunization, Malaria/Dengue Control Programme, Hepatitis Prevention and Control Programme, Enhanced HIV/AIDS Control Programme, Prevention and Control of Blindness, Provincial Tuberculosis Control Programme, Basic Development Needs Programme, Control and Prevention of Infectious diseases in Sindh.During the current Financial Year 2012-13, the ADP allocation of health was revised and increased from Rs 11.00 billion to Rs 13.56 billion which reflects the government’s unwavering commitment and concern for this sector. The next year ADP of health is pitched at Rs 17.00 billion that is an increase of 54 over the allocation made during current financial year.

Around Rs 500.00 million has been allocated for developing a Health Management Information System in the next ADP that will enable us to prepare universal data of the patients containing history of their disease and treatments. An amount of Rs 500.00 million has been earmarked for this scheme during first year of implementation.

Other major initiatives planned for next Financial Year 2013-14, includes establishment of Rs 1.80 billion Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Accident Emergency Ancillary Services Complex at Civil Hospital Karachi, Rs 1.65 billion pilot project for 12-bed mobile health units, improvement of Children Hospital in Karachi, Rs 200 million for provision of allied facilities for Jacobabad Institute of Medical Sciences, Rs 500 million up-gradation of THQ hospitals to the level of DHQ hospitals, Rs 900 million expansion and improvement of DHQ hospitals (Badin, Shikarpur, Khairpur and Mithi), Rs 1.00 billion of prevention and control of Hepatitis in Sindh, establishment and improvement of medical colleges at Hyderabad, Karachi and Khairpur, improvement of Children Hospital in Karachi, establishment of Children Hospital in Sukkur.

Rs118.74b for educationSindh government has allocated total Rs118.74 billion for education sector in the province.Education Department is considered one of the largest departments of Sindh government.In the current Fiscal Year, the ADP allocation for Education Sector was Rs12.00 billion and for the next financial year, government has increased the volume of ADP to Rs13.48 billion. On the current expenditure side, the budgetary allocation of education for next financial year 2013-14 is Rs118.74 billion.

The government plans to initiate the Sindh Education Reform Programme (SERP-II) for which the World Bank has agreed to provide an amount of US$400 million for a period of four years till June 2017. The project development objective is to raise school participation by improving sector governance and accountability and strengthening administrative systems and measure student achievement.

The main targets of the programme are: School Specific Budget, preparation of school budgets, both salary and non-salary components, following transparent, objective, and needs-based criteria, school management committees, strengthening due diligence, fiduciary management and support for SMC grant provision and use to improve resourcing for community-identified school improvement investments.

For the next financial year, the government has reserved Rs 2.21 billion as grant for Sindh Education Foundation committed to enhance cover of quality education throughout province. Rupees 1.25 billion has been allocated for establishment of 23 English medium schools in Sindh, Rs 500 million for ICT enabled education management system and establishment of 23 comprehensive schools in Sindh.