LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif Friday presided over a high-level meeting to review progress on the provision of standardised and top quality medical facilities to the public.
Addressing the meeting, the chief minister said quality medical facilities were the basic right of all citizens and the Punjab government was carrying out every possible effort to improve the healthcare system in line with the wishes of the people. He said support of Turkey to improve the healthcare system in Punjab was praiseworthy and the Punjab government would get benefit from the Turkish expertise and experience in the health sector.
He said that provision of the standardised health facilities at hospitals was his prime objective. Health experts from Turkey briefed the chief minister on the recommendations for the improvement in the healthcare system.
Provincial ministers Mujtaba Shujaur Rehman, Ayesha Ghaus Pasha, Khawaja Slaman Rafique, Khawaja Imran Nazir, Adviser Dr Umer Saif, additional chief secretary, secretaries of the departments concerned and health experts from Turkey attended the meeting.
Separately, the chief minister chaired a high-level meeting to review progress on the Health Reforms Programme and efforts to improve healthcare system.
Addressing the meeting, the chief minister said that the decisions taken to improve the healthcare system should be implemented. He said the Punjab government was working on a mega project to provide best medical facilities to the people. He said all ambulances of the Health Department had been handed over to the Rescue 1122. He said ambulance service desks were being established at emergency blocks at all hospitals, and public and private ambulances would be regulated through these desks. He said a motorbike ambulance service was being launched and training of staff for the purpose was under process. He said a new foolproof system was being introduced for the purchase, transportation and distribution of medicines and the problems of spurious medicines and embezzlement would be addressed through the system.
He said the Punjab government was purchasing medicines worth Rs 6 billion and samples of medicines would be checked from foreign labs. He said the mafia playing with the lives of the people should be eliminated at any cost. Shahbaz said that a hospital was being established in Murree and work on this project was in progress at a fast track.
He said steps were being taken to upgrade labs at hospitals and there was need to make programmes of the Public Health Institute effective.
Meanwhile, chief minister Friday said politics of differences and sectarianism was poison for the nation and the country. Talking to elected representatives here on Friday, the chief minister said, “We should jointly work for progress and prosperity of the country. Pakistan is in a dire need of unity and harmony than before and the country will make progress swiftly when all federating units will make progress on an equal footing,” he said, adding that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) had always promoted unity, harmony and brotherhood.
