Pakistan SIG

Who are we?

We are a group of public health professionals who have delivered at all levels of the UK National Health Service and UK Public Health System. The Pakistan SIG has a broad membership from diverse backgrounds and has a keen interest in shaping public health in Pakistan. Many of us have been supporting Pakistan on a variety of health issues for over a decade.

What is our expertise?

Our expertise lies in the following key areas:

• Health policy
• Health strategies and implementation
• Communicable disease management and surveillance
• Non-communicable disease prevention
• Health service quality and efficiency
• Hospital management, regulation & monitoring
• Health economics

How could our skills and expertise help Pakistan?

The FPH Pakistan SIG is seeking opportunities to support and collaborate with the Pakistan Government, academic institutions and NGOs in a number of areas such as:

1. Advise on developing public health policies which could prevent illness, reduce costs and improve health outcomes and public confidence in the health care system. For example reform of primary care or family medicine could make a dramatic impact on non-communicable diseases such as heart disease and diabetes and reduce the burden on secondary care organisations.
2. Support development of strategies for leading causes of population mortality and morbidity. For example cancer is a major cause of death and has catastrophic costs for individuals e.g. Implementing tobacco control policies and establishing a cancer registry.
3. Support the development of high impact and sustainable health promoting policies e.g. maternal and child health, environmental health, healthy cities and waste management.
4. Mobilize many of the Pakistani diaspora doctors in the UK to support the health agenda in Pakistan.
5. We can help mainstream Public Health concepts at all levels of health care including primary, secondary and tertiary care.
6. Develop the skills and competence of the Public Health work force to enable the above changes.
7. To help strengthen the control of communicable diseases such as hepatitis, tuberculosis and measles to name but a few, and support areas of work such as antimicrobial resistance (AMR), infection control and disaster management in Pakistan.

A summary of recent SIG activity is available here.

A report of the second Annual International Public Health Conference held in Peshawar, Pakistan from 25-27 February 2020 is available here.  Representatives of the Pakistan SIG both attended and presented at the conference.

Contact

The Pakistan Special Interest Group is chaired by Samia Latif (samia.latif@ukhsa.gov.uk) and Mohammad Ali (mra30@leicester.ac.uk), with Zafar Iqbal (zafar.iqbal@mpft.nhs.uk) as the Vice-chair. The SIG reports to the Faculty's Global Health Committee.

Members of the SIG's executive group are Anjum Memon (academic lead), Fazal Rahman (trainee lead), and Mamoona Tahir, Muhammad Abid and Usman Khan (exec members).

Join the Pakistan SIG

FPH members can join this SIG by logging into their FPH members’ portal account, selecting the ‘Committees/SIGs’ button and choosing the correct SIG. You will then be asked to provide a few details, following which your application will be automatically approved. Further details on FPH membership are available here.

Vision and Aims

Our vision is to support the development of a resilient and supportive healthcare system in Pakistan. 

• Academic and research collaboration: Develop research/academic collaborations between UK and Pakistan to support research and innovation in public health.
• Enhance emergency preparedness: Strengthen the healthcare system’s ability to respond to emergencies and public health crises effectively.
• Reducing health inequalities: Identifying and working collaboratively with local and national leaders to reduce health inequalities in Pakistan.

Workplan