Chief secretary visits Chitral hospitals

CHITRAL: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Secretary Naveed Kamran Baloch visited different hospitals in the district and checked the provision of facilities to the patients.

Additional Chief Secretary Dr Shahzad Bangash, Secretary Health Dr Syed Farooq Jamil and other officials were also present on the occasion.

The officials visited three government hospitals working under the supervision of Aga Khan Health Services (AKHS). The chief secretary during his visit to Rural Health Centre Shagram appreciated the services being extended to people. “It’s a good example of private-public partnership as doctors from various parts of the country are performing duties in the far-off area,” he added.

He also met the elders and assured them to upgrade the school in the area. Earlier, Dr Zafar Ahmad, head of Community Health and Government Relations of the AKHS, briefed the officials about the programme. He said the AKHS had started Maternal and Child Health programme at the hospital in 2004.

He said the affairs of the hospital was handed over to the AKHS under an agreement in 2008, adding, doctors from Sindh and other parts of the country were working at the hosipital. Meanwhile, the chief secretary also visited District Headquarters Hospital and inspected provision of basic health facilities to the people of this far-flung district. During the visit to various sections and wards of the hospital, the chief secretary was briefed by Medical Superintendent Dr Rehman Afridi.