PESHAWAR: The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) government has announced a Rs500 million mother and child healthcare project for 12 relatively neglected districts of the province.

During a briefing at the Civil Officers Mess on Monday, K-P Minister for Health Shaukat Yousafzai claimed the project will integrate the Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI), Lady Health Workers Programme, Nutrition Programme and the National Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (MNCH) Programme.

He said some general and side committees will be made in every district to monitor the activities of project workers.

Yousafzai said Rs200 million has been allocated for the healthcare of mothers and Rs300 million for children in the 2013-14 budget.

He said those parents who would complete the timely course of vaccinations of their children will be paid Rs1,000 per child, adding an estimated 190,000 children will be provided vaccinations under the project. He said initially the project will be launched in Chitral, Shangla, Upper Dir, Lower Dir, Buner, Torghar, Kohistan, Battagram, Nowshera, Hangu, Lakki Marwat and Tank. The government has also announced a stipend of Rs2,700 for pregnant women who would regularly undertake medical check-ups.

Yousafzai said all these districts have insufficient health facilities and a high number of children remain unvaccinated. He explained that the aim of the project is to curb child mortality rates by providing timely vaccinations.
The minister said Rs50 million has been released to district health officers, and to ensure transparency, officials have been directed to send the compensation sums to parents through bank accounts, Easy Paisa and UBL Omni.

He hoped the project will ensure the vaccination of every child in the district and result in dropping the mortality rate and lessening burden on hospitals. He informed that the breastfeeding law is almost complete and will soon be passed from the provincial assembly.

According to the proposed law, every doctor found to be prescribing packet milk to children less than six months old will be sent to prison. The minister said for the first time a government was taking such steps for healthcare of mothers and children.

Listing achievements in the health sector, Yousafzai said the government is planning to establish new casualty wards in government hospitals across the province and hire new staff for them. He said they have sealed 292 unregistered medical laboratories in the province.

Source