News & Events

Third Health Promotion Indaba was organized by CIDA-SOHIP in collaboration with department of Health promotion o/o DGHS, Punjab. A total of 115 participants comprising of 91 men and 24 women attended this event.

HPI-III was based on the theme “Making Health Promotion work!”

The overall goal was to connect participants to the progress thus far and to facilitate the development of health promotion orientation moreover to give a larger call for identification/agreement on a roadmap for the future to continue to build up the momentum for health promotion commitment and action in the province.

Among the Key speakers and facilitators were Mr. Fawad Hassan Fawad ,Secretary Health Punjab; Mr. Abullah Khan Sumbal, Special Secretary Health Punjab; Professor Shakila Zaman, Dean IPH; Dr. Simon Azariah , Project Director SOHIP; Dr. Arshed Usmani acting Director General Health Services Punjab; Dr. Tasneem Kausar, Director Health Promotion & MCH, DGHS Punjab; Dr. Nusrat Habib Rana, Director PIMH Punjab; Dr. Talat Iqbal, EDO Health Sialkot; Mr. Farasat Iqbal, PD PHSRP, Punjab; Dr. Zahida Sarwar, Health Promotion Coordinator SOHIP & Dr. Ali Jawa Assistant Professor,Allama Iqbal Medical College.

Dr. Arshed Usmani shared his views regarding approval of PC-1 and said that, “with the reorganization of o/o DGHS Punjab, a new full-fledged department of Health Promotion has been  established .SOHIP has been providing assistance thus far for this nascent Department but for continuity and sustainability, approval of PC-1 of Health Promotion department is urgently required”

Mr. Abullah Khan Sumbal, the Special Secretary shared the commitment of department of health towards Health Promotion and said that, “there was a  dire need to work within a HP framework in a very strategic and cohesive manner as it is one of the strategies of Provincial Health Policy Framework 2009”. He promised to extend his support for the approval of PC-1 of Health Promotion department for the fiscal year 2010-2011

In HPI-III, three background papers were presented. These were presented by Punjab Institute of Mental Health, Provincial MNCH Program and Allama Iqbal Medical College.

Skill Building Sessions were commented as promising & useful by the participants of HPI III. Session # 1 “Health Promotion Integration into Teaching and Training Institutions” was lead by Professor Shakila Zaman, Dean IPH & Dr. Haq Nawaz Bharwana , Director PHDC . Session # 2 “Health Promotion Integration from Policy to Implementation” was lead by Dr. Simon Azariah Project Director SOHIP & Dr. Talat Iqbal EDO Health Sialkot.

Secretary Health Mr. Fawad Hassan Fawad, in his concluding speech congratulated Dr. Simon Azariah, Project Director SOHIP on successfully enabling a large /diverse group to participate and also shared his vision regarding Gaps in Health Planning & Implementation. His views were very clear & positive regarding Community Participation & Accountability. In response to the Recommendations by two groups, respectable Secretary Health advised to constitute two committees to work for HP integration into teaching and training and Primary Health Care facilities.

Details of this event will soon are available in form if a complete report.

One of the foremost priorities of department of health is to reduce the disease burden due to non communicable diseases, by capacity building of both health care providers and the general population. In this regard a training was organized by CIDA-SOHIP in collaboration with Punjab Institute of Mental Health and department of Health Promotion o/o DGHS, Punjab. It was decided and agreed upon in Health Promotion Advisory Group meeting held on 04-12-2009 that SOHIP would provide assistance for the provincial ToTs on Mental Illnesses Manual in collaboration with PIMH and after that WHO would provide support to PIMH and district Health department for downstream trainings in all districts in a phased manner.

Total 47 participants from 24 districts of Punjab completed this training in three batches (First batch: 18-19 Jan, 2010; second batch:  20-21 Jan 2010; Third Batch: 22-23 January 2010)

CIDA-funded Systems-Oriented Health Investment Program (SOHIP) organized a Jang Forum on 23 January 2010 to invite critical review of the main issues that prevent Punjab Health Department in achieving the desired results, elicit those issues that are more systemic in nature and to identify and present key strategies to address such issues to the government that can be used to help improve the health status of the community of the Punjab (and Pakistan in general). This forum was attended by around 120 participants.

Dr. Saeed Elahi, MPA and Chairman of CM’s Task Force was the chief guest to represent the elected government and to receive recommendations from the congregation and Mr. Abdulah Khan Sumbal, Special Secretary Health  moderated the technical discussions providing an insight into departmental point of view, policies and programs. A set of main programmatic and operational decision-makers including Dr. Muhammad Aslam Chaudhary, Director General Health Services and Mr. Farasat Iqbal, Program Director, Punjab Health Sector Reforms Program and managers were invited to present their experience and analysis. Mr. Mirza Farrukh Waseem (District Coordinator SOHIP) on behalf of Mr. Waseem Ajmal Chaudhary, District Coordination Officer Mianwali, with experience of evidence-based planning and output-based budgeting for health sector shared his experience and provided recommendations.

Dr. Simon Azariah, Project Director, CIDA: Systems-Oriented Health Investment Program highlighted the analytical and experiential learning from working to strengthen district and provincial health systems especially in areas of management and accountability. Results of qualitative analysis of district health systems was presented to highlight the key issues. An introduction to the systems approach was given to serve as a framework for inclusion of issues that can/need to be considered systemic in nature.

One of the most significant objective of the forum was to and present key strategies that can be applied system-wide to address the most critical or pressing issues to the elected government and request for support, political commitment /action 

This forum will help  in  widely disseminating  the key features of the above dialogue through print media to raise public awareness, generate popular opinion, interest and dialogue.

A 2 days consultation meeting was held as a first step to propose the steps for development Gender Strategy (for Department of Health, Punjab)on Jan 15-16, 2010 at Islamabad.  It was attended by a high powered group of 18 participants (11 women and 7 men)and was conducted by Ms. Shahnaz Kapadia (a renowned trainer /module developer  in the field of  Gender ). One of the most critical objectives of this meeting/ training was to Define the specific action steps to be taken in the next three months to contribute to the Gender Strategy within the Health Sector, Punjab.

To capitalize the learning and skills of the participants, District Annual Health Plan (DAHP) was presented by the project director SOHIP and invited their gender analytical skills to apply in identifying gender issues on demand, supply and institutional mechanisms central to DAHP development process.

The training was ended with an achievement of improved level of ownership and clarity of vision among the potential gender mainstreaming champions on strategizing gender equality in health sector.

 Two days training workshop was organized by SOHIP in collaboration with department of Health Promotion o/o DGHS, Punjab for the capacity building of master trainers of various institutes. Representatives from Punjab Institute of Mental Health (PIMH), Institute of Public Health (IPH) , PHDC and MNCH program participated in this training.  Director Health Promotion and Additional Director Food and Nutrition were also among the participants.