ISLAMABAD: The proposed new Health Policy was discussed threadbare at a Health Ministers` conference ... here today [May 10]. Federal Health Minister Hafeezullah Cheema chaired the deliberations attended by Provincial Ministers and senior Federal and provincial officials. Official sources said the meeting decided in principle that more emphasis should be laid ... on prevention compared to the curative side. The conference also discussed ways ... of wiping out ...

leprosy, some amendments to be made to the Drugs Act and measures for improvement of the quality of medicines.

The new health policy is expected to be announced soon and it will take into account the recommendations made by provinces at today`s conference. It was suggested ... that the health policies so far drafted and implemented mostly catered to the requirements of the population living in urban areas. ... ..

In order to make the proposed National Health Policy a common-man oriented [document] the emphasis should be laid on the preventive side. It was pointed out that too much attention had been paid in the past to the curative side with the result that it mainly benefited the people who had means to afford medical treatment.