Our Strengthening Emergency Care programme (SEC) in Pakistan
About Pakistan
Pakistan has the 6th largest population in the world. The health profile of Pakistan is characterised by high population growth rate, high infant, child and maternal mortality rates, and a high burden of communicable diseases. The infant mortality (74 per 1,000) and under five mortality rates (98 per 1,000) are unacceptably high.
About the programme
Our work in Pakistan is part of the our Strengthening Emergency Care Programme (SEC)
The programme in Pakistan is carried out by CAI Pakistan, MCAI and ALSG (Advanced Life Support Group). Since 2004 the team in Pakistan has been:
- providing training in emergency care management, and running the following courses:
- Essential Surgical Skills with Emphasis on Emergency Maternal and Child Health (ESS-EMCH)
- Managing Obstetric Emergencies & Trauma Course (MOET)
- Advanced Paediatric Life Support (APLS)
- integrating hospital and community based emergency health care with functioning referral systems
So far, more than 2,900 doctors, nurses and health workers have been trained.
The team’s emphasis is on improving the management of emergencies, especially within the first few hours of treating a patient, as this is a major determinant of the eventual outcome. If the vast majority of these potentially avoidable deaths and long-term or permanent morbidities are to be avoided, better and more appropriate health care is required.
A child or baby who is quickly identified to be desperately unwell and who receives rapid appropriate treatment has a greater chance of survival with fewer long-term consequences, in particular an avoidance of brain injury. Although hospitals in Pakistan are relatively well staffed, much of the equipment is either faulty or out of order and most medicines have to be paid for by the patient or their family themselves. In this situation, the level of medical skill and expertise available can mean the difference between life and death for a sick baby.
As part of an agreement with the Government of Pakistan, hospitals and primary care centres will be provided with essential drugs and supplies to enable staff to complete the courses and to allow care to the standard trained to be sustained.
In November 2005, The World Health Organisation (WHO) in Pakistan and the Pakistani Government have taken on responsibility for the spreading of the courses across the entire country. They have put together a funding consortium which will lead to the intervention becoming sustainable.
This work is implemented with the support of various partners in different parts of the country including USAID and UNICEF.