Balochistan launches digital health system to tighten oversight of facilities

QUETTA: Balochistan Governor Jaffar Khan Mandokhail has said the launch of the Digital Health Information System (DHIS) marks a major step in overhauling healthcare management in the province, with the new system designed to improve monitoring, record-keeping and accountability across public health facilities.

Speaking at the Third Health Care Leadership Conference in Quetta, the governor said the system would require health centres to keep strict records of doctors’ and paramedics’ attendance, medicine distribution and day-to-day facility operations, including labour rooms. He said the initiative was intended to raise standards of transparency, accountability and performance in hospitals and basic health units.

Mandokhail said district health officers and medical superintendents would, for the first time, be held directly answerable for the performance of their facilities, describing the move as a historic reform. He credited Provincial Health Minister Bakht Muhammad Kakar and Health Secretary Mujeeb-ur-Rehman Panizai for their role in implementing the system.

Referring to Balochistan’s vast territory and dispersed population, the governor also appealed to the United Nations and other international organisations to continue supporting the province so that marginalised communities are not left without basic medical services. He added that effective leadership and management remained an ongoing requirement in every sector, particularly in remote districts.