Children’s heart surgery programme being expanded

LAHORE:An important meeting regarding the Chief Minister’s Children’s Heart Surgery Programme was held in the Department of Specialised Healthcare and Medical Education under the chairmanship of Provincial Health Minister Khawaja Salman Rafique. Parliamentary Secretary Rushda Lodhi participated in the meeting.

Punjab Health Secretary Azmat Mehmood Khan, Special Secretary Development Syed Wajid Ali Shah, Special Secretary Operations Tariq Mehmood, Additional Secretary Dr Waheed, Vice Chancellor University of Child Health Sciences Prof Masood Sadiq, CEO Punjab Health Initiative Management Company Dr Ali Razaq and representatives of Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB) participated in the meeting. Major General Retired Dr Azhar Mehmood Kayani, Prof Farqad Alamgir and others participated in the meeting through a video link.

Health Minister had a detailed review of the programme. The PITB team gave a briefing in this regard.Provincial Health Minister Khawaja Salman Rafique said that Alhamdulillah, more than 530 children have been successfully operated under the Chief Minister’s Children’s Heart Surgery Programme since its launch. The scope of this programme is being expanded. Under this programme, there has been a clear reduction in the waiting list for surgeries. He said that before this programme, parents of children had to wait for months according to the waiting list for surgeries. Under this programme, the capacity of Punjab’s children’s hospitals is also being increased.

Khawaja Salman Rafique said that the Chief Minister’s Children’s Heart Surgery Programme is continuously monitored through the dashboard. The Punjab government has made the entire system of children’s heart surgery programme very transparent. In the meeting, medical equipment was also approved for six government children’s hospitals for the Chief Minister’s Children’s Heart Surgery Programme.

RMU Syndicate meeting

A syndicate meeting of Rawalpindi Medical University was held under the chairmanship of Provincial Health Minister Khawaja Salman Rafique. Parliamentary Secretary Zia ullah Shah, Parliamentary Secretary Rushda Lodhi, Special Secretary Development Syed Wajid Ali Shah, Additional Secretary Finance Sidra Salim, Deputy Secretary Lubna, Deputy Secretary Budget Hamad ul Rab and other officers participated. Vice Chancellor Rawalpindi Medical University Prof Muhammad Umar, faculty members and syndicate members participated through a video link. The officers concerned attended the syndicate meeting. During the syndicate meeting, Holy Family Hospital was allowed to contract the maintenance of MRI machine. During the meeting, HEC funded development schemes were approved and Holy Family Hospital Rawalpindi was allowed for upgradation of nursing college.

Health minister said that the government wanted to solarise all government hospitals. Qualitative research is being promoted in the medical schools of Punjab. Transparency is being ensured in the financial affairs of medical universities. The Punjab government is providing quality education to students in government medical universities. Sanitation arrangements in government hospitals should be further improved, he concluded.