With a view to contribute in evidence based policy formulation and assisting in translating words into actions, Contech International Health Consultant took an initiative of establishing a unit under the name of “Research Advocacy Centre for Health policy (REACH)” in a consortium setting.

REACH is an independent, non aligned, non political set up, with Plan Pakistan as its first collaborating member. The centre provides a platform to discuss the issues related to health policy/planning both for public and private sector. It encourages collaborative working between health planners, policy makers, managers, implementers and end users of health services/beneficiaries. It acts as a think tank on health policy and planning.

The specific objectives of REACH are:

     To critically analyze health policy and make appropriate recommendations
     To discuss strategies for implementing policy guidelines in both public and private sector
     To facilitate interaction between health planners, policy makers, managers, implementers and users of health services
     To improve health planning capacity
 
HealthPlan® generates reports for each step of planning process thus making the job of health planners/health managers a whole lot easier.

The salient features and details of the institutional arrangements of REACH are the following:

     Consortium
     Steering committee
     Focus area group
     Central secretariat

A. Consortium
REACH has been established by a consortium of National and International organizations. The Partners include Contech International and Plan Pakistan and it is manifold expanding.

B. Steering committee
It consists of leading health professionals and organizations like the National Health Policy Unit (NHPU), Mother and Child Welfare Association of Pakistan (MCWAP) and Save the Children UK.

C. Focus area groups
Focus Area Groups are the technical wing of REACH. Each group is required to set up research and develop analytical papers and initiate capacity building activities.

D. Central secretariat
This is the nucleus of the REACH. The function of the Central Secretariat is to coordinate between Consortium, Steering Committee and Focus Area Group within the organization and government and non government organization at various levels. It is also responsible for sharing and dissemination of information within and outside the organization.

Resource Centre having a wide variety of resource materials for health policy research including access to international publications is being established at REACH.

Field Demonstration Area (FDA) has been established in village ‘Ramthaman’ of District Kasur, Health related community based research, training and skill building activities, field testing of proposed interventions and models are proposed to be conducted within the FDA.

REACH SEMINAR

REACH under the sponsorship of Contech International and Plan Pakistan organized a seminar on Health Policy: An independent Perspective .This seminar was largely attended by a vast cross section of stakeholders, including health and social sector professionals, civil society representatives, non governmental organizations, representatives of international agencies and experts of national and international repute.

The event was addressed by eminent health professionals including Dr Naeemuddin Mian,( Health specialist & CEO of Contech International), Mia. Haglundheelas (Health specialist & Country Chief of Plan Pakistan) Mushtaq A Khan (Chief of NHPU) Professor Fehmida Jalil (Health specialist & Executive Director of Contech) and Professor Amanullah Khan (Health Specialist & Dean and Professor of Community Medicine CPS of national and international repute.

.