Annual Public Health Conference Held to Address Pakistan’s National Health Vision 2025

Lahore (Muhammad Yasir)  Greenstar Social Marketing (GSM), an independent network member of Population Services International, participated as one of the sponsors in the 9th Annual Public Health Conference in Islamabad today. The theme of this year’s conference was “Local To Global” based on the study by Lancet Commission on investing in Health issues.

The conference was organized by Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination in coordination with Health Services Academy. Other organizations participating in the conference included Population Services International, Sukh Initiative and Aman Health.

Titled “Local To Global” the conference aimed to generate debate and seek policy directions on deficiency on family planning goals, investing in present and future generations through education and youth skills development by focusing on out of school children especially girls, implications of decrease sex ratio on gender issues, advocating institutional supports for old age security and advocating for increased resource allocation to sustain human resource development.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Syed Azizur Rab, CEO, GSM said “There is a need for enhanced global response to improve health and reduce inequities. Pakistan through its National Health Vision 2025 is committed to achieving health for everyone and reducing inequities. Now is the time for us to take stock of what has been accomplished and to identify promising directions and solutions to scale up and to meet global public health priorities. We are proud of participating in the conference as it has drawn upon global, regional and local lessons and has chalked the way forward which will result in better family planning initiatives in Pakistan”.

Health Services Academy, under the Cabinet Division, Government of Pakistan has been training public health professional and has grown steadily as the premier institute of public health in Pakistan, looking to provide more academic programmes in the near future, as well as providing an environment that focuses on excellence in academics, research, and policy-making.