A legislative body of upper house of parliament on Wednesday expressed serious reservations on shortage of human resource of the National Institute of Health by 350 vacant positions as of the present date and termed it a major setback resulting in the quality of services provided.
These apprehensions were expressed during a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination, which was held under the Chairmanship of Senator Dr. Muhammad Humayun Mohmand here at the Parliament House.
“One-third of the strength of the NIH is missing” Chairman Committee lamented. The Committee emphasized providing a reason for this delay. The NIH informed the committee that the delay is caused on account of the new act and new regulations, however, 10 days prior, the regulations and the advertisements have been approved. The Chairman Committee set a timeline for the appointment of the medical staff, the NIH assured the Committee that the appointments will be made in three months.
The NIH apprised the committee that the Genomic Sequencing Centers for Infectious Diseases are also established and 75 cases of Omicron variant have been diagnosed through genome sequencing up till December 28th.
The Committee received a detailed and extensive briefing by the NIH, on their work, performance, budget allocation and progress on various vaccines. SAPM to National Health Services, Regulations & Coordination Faisal Sultan appreciated the tremendous progress of the NIH during and after the Covid-19 “The speedy development the NIH had made during the Covid crisis and after is commendable”, he stated.
The Committee also acknowledged the work of the NIH and believed it to be a great contribution in the health sector. During the briefing, the committee was informed that a new act has been introduced along with a new board of directors (BoDs) comprising of highly adept members.
