LAHORE - Punjab Governor Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar has said that Pakistan may frame its health system on the model of the National Health Services (NHS) of the United Kingdom to provide better health delivery in the country.
Addressing an inauguration of overseas job creation portal here at the Governor’s House on Thursday, he said the General Practitioner (GP) system in the UK should also be adopted to provide medical treatment to a community in far-flung areas of the province, adding that the GP would be tried as a pilot project at one of the union councils (UCs) of Lahore soon.
“A doctor as a GP is connected to people in a community, examines patients and is well aware of their ailments and is paid for his services as per the patient ratio. This practice checks flow of patients to big cities without need”, the governor added.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was recently signed between the AFCO Private Limited, Pakistan (a Pakistan based job placement bureau) and MMC Health Care Limited UK to provide jobs to Pakistani doctors and allied healthcare staff in the UK after thousands of jobs were available for Pakistani medical professionals in the aftermath of Brexit.
Sarwar said that Pakistan enjoyed special bilateral relations with the United Kingdom, adding that Pakistani health professionals had been serving in the UK for decades and had improved the country’s image as ambassadors of Pakistan. He said the best doctors in the NHS belonged to Pakistan besides the paramedical staff.
He further said the primary healthcare system provided healthcare to people at the grass root level, adding that the government, under Prime Minister Imran Khan, was committed to improving healthcare facilities of the masses in the country.
Sarwar said the government was faced with multiple challenges, adding that, “we need to establish partnerships with the global organizations to face challenges in economy and other areas.” The Governor said the Sustainable Goal Development (SDGs) targets could not be achieved without social development in the country.
About the job placement in the UK, the Governor said doctors and paramedical staff would contribute to the socio-economic development of both the countries, adding that new jobs would increase foreign exchange for the country.
He said the ageing population was increasing all over the world and Pakistan could earn valuable foreign exchange by utilizing energies of the immense youth in the country.
Earlier, CEO AFCO private Ltd Pakistan Ansar Farooq and Executive Director MMC UK Ansar
Hayat talked about job opportunities in the UK. Ansar Farooq said his company had dedicated
all efforts to create overseas jobs as per the vision of Prime Minister Imran Khan. He invited Pakistani medical professionals to avail the opportunity. A large number of health professionals and health experts from Pakistan and abroad attended the ceremony.
