ISLAMABAD: World Health Organisation Representative in Pakistan, Dr Michel Thieren has said that priority given to Sustainable Development Goal (SDGs)-III in Vision-2025 by the present government would improve the health indicators in Pakistan.
In an interview with state-run radio channel, he said that the economic indicators in Pakistan are encouraging, and hopefully, similar focus would be laid on child mortality, tuberculosis, and malaria so that lives of the poor could be saved.
He assured that the WHO’s technical support to Pakistan would help in combating with communicable and non-communicable diseases and would ensure public health.
The WHO representative said that peace is imperative for achieving SDGs in a country. He said that all the stakeholders, including the government, civil society, and the non-governmental organisations need to play their due role to achieve the SDGs.
Michel Thieren said that the WHO is pursuing the principle that no one is unreachable. He paid a tribute to the vaccinators, who died in the line of their duty to administer anti-polio drops to children in the tribal area.
Speaking in the programme, SDG-III Focal Person in Pakistan, Dr Lamia Mahmoud, said the lady health workers are playing an important role to prevent diseases particularly in the far flung areas of Pakistan.
While explaining the SDGs, she said they are aimed at achieving the five Ps — planet, peace, people, prosperity, and partnership. She said SDG-III, which relates to universal health coverage, would be achieved in Pakistan by 2030.
