Health care reforms top agenda: Shehbaz

LAHORE: Revolutionary measures have been taken to provide the best of health facilities to the people of Punjab, said Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday.

The CM presided over a three-hour-long meeting to discuss the progress on the health reforms roadmap introduced by the Punjab government.

“Reforms introduced by the Punjab government in the health sector are producing positive results,” Shehbaz said while addressing the participants. He added that steps taken to improve coverage of the immunisation campaigns had produced encouraging results and these steps would continue with consistency. He directed the authorities to further the vaccination programme in a coordinated manner.

Shehbaz said more mobile health units were being purchased to provide the best healthcare facilities to the people at their doorsteps. Six mobile health units are already providing health facilities in the remote areas round the clock. He said the Punjab government launched a comprehensive project to control hepatitis, and a hepatitis control clinic would be inaugurated in Lahore by next month. This clinic will be linked to nine divisions through satellite.

The CM said the hepatitis control bill would be presented in the assembly for its passage soon. The Punjab government, he added, has made a foolproof system for the purchase, transportation and sale of standardised medicines.

“Through this system, misappropriation in the medicine sector will be eliminated,” he said. “The government will get the samples of medicines tested from renowned laboratories abroad and first warehouse of medicines will be established in Lahore.”

He said steps were being taken to end the shortage of medical officers and consultants and CT-Scan machines would be made operational at all district headquarters hospitals across Punjab by June this year.

He said the companies that would provide these CT scan machines would be responsible for operating and looking after these machines. “The people will get CT scan facility round-the-clock,” he added.

Shehbaz said the services of allied health professionals would be hired and 19 non-clinical services in hospital, including cleanliness, were being outsourced.

He added the Prime Minister Health Insurance Scheme was a megaproject aimed at provision of best health facilities to the public and the Punjab government planned to enhance the scope of this scheme from four districts to the whole province. “Thousands of patients in 36 districts will benefit from this scheme.”

He said ambulances of the health department had been handed over to Rescue 1122 and far-reaching benefits would be achieved by this initiative. The government’s motorcycle ambulance service and its scope would also be enhanced to other cities.

Source: The Express Tribune