Hospitals’ upgrade priority, says minister

LAHORE:Caretaker Provincial Health Minister Dr Javed Akram visited the Jinnah Hospital and inspected under-construction emergency, trauma centre and cardiac centre in the hospital.

Special Secretary Development Specialised Healthcare and Medical Education Department Wajid Ali Shah, Principal Allama Iqbal Medical College Prof Dr Nadeem Hafeez Butt, MS Jinnah Hospital Dr Yahya Sultan, Deputy Chief IDAP Omar Bela and other officers were present. The officers briefed the caretaker provincial health minister Dr Javed Akram in this regard.

The health minister said that the caretaker government was building a new emergency, trauma centre and cardiac centre for the convenience of the patients coming to Jinnah Hospital Lahore. Due to the increasing population of Punjab, there is a dire need for expansion of existing government hospitals and building new hospitals. Only after improving the efficiency of the government hospitals, we will be able to provide better health facilities to the growing population. The improvement of government hospitals of Punjab is the first priority for the caretaker government. Punjab Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi is personally visiting various government hospitals to review the issues. Unfortunately, there is no biotechnology plant in Pakistan. For the past several decades, no attention has been paid to building new large public hospitals across the province, including Lahore.

Dr Javed Akram further said that the Punjab government was bringing reforms day and night for the improvement of government hospitals.

Five paraplegic centres being set up in Punjab

Punjab Minister for Primary and Secondary Healthcare Dr Jamal Nasir has informed that on the instructions of Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi, five paraplegic centres are being established for treatment and rehabilitation of disabled persons for the first time in Punjab.

These centres will serve as one-stop facilities for paraplegic patients, providing medical and rehabilitation services as well as assistive devices to patients, he added.

The minister said that the hub of these paraplegic centres would be established at the District Headquarters Hospital, Multan, with multiple satellite sites for patient follow-up and device maintenance. The satellite centres will be set up at Tehsil Headquarters Hospital Samanabad, Lahore, Nusrat Fateh Ali Hospital Faisalabad, Tehsil Headquarters Hospital Taunsa and Wah Cantt General Hospital, Rawalpindi.

The main centre at Multan will consist of 30 beds and will be equipped with the latest rehabilitation facilities, including equipment and expertise for spinal surgery, he added. The first paraplegic centre with 20 beds will be inaugurated in Tehsil Headquarters Hospital Samanabad, Lahore, very soon, the minister revealed. He said that the main objective of this project was to prevent permanent disability of tongue, hand, arm, leg and foot of the person who was at such a risk as a result of any disease or injury caused due to accident.

The minister said that a workshop for manufacturing artificial limbs for disabled persons will also be established under this project. Punjab Cabinet has decided to outsource the workshop, he added.

The minister informed that the facility for speech therapy would also be provided to the patients at these centres. Counselling of the under-treatment people will also be done at these centres to make them useful citizens of the society. The families of such people will also be imparted training for taking care of them at home, the minister added.