File Photo
Age limit for recruitment would be 20 to 30 years; Sindh Health Minister discusses the proposal
Currently 20446 LHWs, 770 Lady Health Supervisors and 3348 Community Midwives are working in the province; 2130 more LHWs would be recruited this year
Karachi: A proposal is under consideration according to which the Lady Health Workers (LHW) in Sindh would be retired at the age of 50 while the age limit for appointment would be between 20 to 30 years.
As per the recruitment criteria, the females, having passed matriculation, would be chosen from their union councils.
The proposal was discussed at a meeting chaired by Provincial Minister for Health and Population Welfare Dr. Azra Pechuho, on Friday. The meeting was convened to review the progress on Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (RMNCH).
The meeting was informed that currently there are 20,446 LHWs, 770 Lady Health Supervisors (LHS) and 3348 Community Midwives working across the province, providing the basic healthcare in the most remote and difficult to access regions. This year 2130 more LHWs would be recruited.
Minister suggested that the areas that required more assistance and services of LHW’s should be surveyed and the LHW’s should be trained accordingly.
The meeting discussed in detail the services provided by LHWs, LHS and Community Midwives (CMW).
Claiming that the RMNCH services being provided in Sindh are of greater standard than those provided in rest of the country, it was discussed to increase the services further by enhancing the functionality of LHWs, and for that it is imperative to recruit more women medical officers at a district level.
It was further stressed that vacancies of Lady Health Workers must be filled through interview and test. The current year would see the recruitment and training of 2130 LHWs, for which third party system will be utilized in the recruitment process.
Minister noticed that the efficacy and reach of LHWs and their services is 48%. “In the upcoming 3 years this percentage must increase in order to provide health services to maximum number of people,” Dr. Azra urged.
It was further informed that 820 Community Midwives have been selected through interviews and their training classes have started.
Discussing the situation in Thar it was informed that one thousand more LHWs were recruited in order to provide the needed healthcare services in the region. Minister for Health however viewed that the number of LHW’s there must be increased in order to meet the demands of the local population.
The meeting was attended by Parliamentary Secretary for Health in Sindh Assembly, Qasim Siraj Soomro, Secretary Health, Dr. Kazim Jatoi, DG Health Services and Deputy DG Health RMNCH.
______________________
