QUETTA, (APP – UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News – 1st Sep, 2026) Adviser for Women Development Department, Dr Rubaba Khan Buledi on Tuesday said that sustainable development in Balochistan is not possible without improving the health of women, mothers and children, stressing that maternal and child healthcare must remain at the centre of the province’s Primary healthcare strategy.
Addressing the inaugural ceremony of the Essential Package of Health Services (EPHS) Balochistan, Dr Rubaba Khan Buledi said the initiative represented an important step towards strengthening the primary healthcare system and ensuring that essential medical services were available closer to communities, particularly in remote and underserved areas.
Dr Rubaba, who is herself a medical doctor, said that geographical challenges and limited access to healthcare facilities in far-flung areas often create additional risks for pregnant women.
She emphasized the need to ensure regular antenatal care (ANC), including blood pressure monitoring, hemoglobin assessment, nutritional counselling, iron and folic acid supplementation, screening for high-risk pregnancies and timely identification of warning signs.
She said safe motherhood required the availability of skilled birth attendants and an effective referral mechanism linking Basic Health Units with tehsil and district-level hospitals. “A pregnant woman facing a complication must not lose valuable time in reaching appropriate medical care. An efficient referral system can make the difference between life and death for both mother and child,” she said.
The Adviser stressed that healthcare facilities must be adequately equipped to manage major obstetric emergencies, including postpartum hemorrhage, hypertensive disorders of pregnancy and maternal sepsis. Availability of essential medicines, emergency equipment, trained healthcare professionals and timely referral services was critical for reducing preventable maternal deaths.
She also highlighted the importance of quality newborn care, saying that the first minutes and hours after birth were crucial for a child’s survival and healthy development. Early initiation of breastfeeding, thermal care, infection prevention and neonatal resuscitation should be integral components of maternal and newborn healthcare services at primary and secondary healthcare facilities, she added.
Dr Rubaba Khan Buledi said that child health could not be separated from the health and nutritional status of the mother.
Maternal anaemia, malnutrition and inadequate antenatal care could have lasting consequences for newborns, including low birth weight and impaired growth.
She called for stronger integration of maternal nutrition, breastfeeding support, immunization, growth monitoring and preventive healthcare.
She said the strengthening of Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (RMNCH) services at the primary healthcare level was essential for improving health outcomes across the province.
The activation of 164 Basic Health Centres was an important development, she said, adding that the effectiveness of these facilities would ultimately depend on the availability of trained personnel, essential medicines, diagnostic services and functional referral linkages.
The Adviser underlined the important role of Lady Health Workers, Community Health Workers and other front-line healthcare staff, particularly in remote areas, their capacity should be enhanced so they could effectively provide health education, promote antenatal and postnatal care, encourage immunization and breastfeeding, identify high-risk pregnancies and facilitate timely referrals.
“As a doctor, I firmly believe that the success of a healthcare policy should ultimately be measured by its impact on people’s lives and health indicators,” Dr Rubaba said. “Our objective should not merely be to establish or activate health facilities; we must ensure measurable reductions in maternal, neonatal and infant mortality and improve women’s access to quality healthcare, ”she said.
She said that the Government of Balochistan was pursuing an integrated approach in which primary healthcare, maternal and newborn care, nutrition, immunization, early diagnosis and referral services were linked together to deliver better health outcomes.
Dr Rubaba Khan Buledi said every woman in Balochistan had the right to safe pregnancy, skilled care during childbirth and quality postnatal services, while every newborn deserved timely medical attention, adequate nutrition and protection from preventable diseases from the very first day of life.
She reaffirmed that the Women Development Department would continue to work with the Health Department and other stakeholders to strengthen women-centred healthcare interventions and support efforts aimed at ensuring healthier mothers, healthier children and a healthier Balochistan.
