Islamabad : The Executive Committee of National Economic Council (ECNEC) has approved Rs465.946 million to be allocated in fiscal year 2019-20 here on Monday for the project of extension of Intensive Care Department of Mother and Child Health Centre (MCHC) and Children Hospital at Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences.
The PIMS Executive Director Dr Amjad highly appreciated the approval of funds for the project that would cost a total of Rs4270.455 million in the completion time set as three years after start of the project.
Of the total amount, 91 per cent of the funds for MCH and Children Hospital extension project, Rs3874.14 million would be provided by the government of Japan through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) while the remaining funds amounting to nine per cent of the total cost, Rs396.448 million would be provided by the government of Pakistan as local component of the project. The Central Development Working Party had recommended the project on February 19 this year.
It is important that 242 bedded Children Hospital was commissioned through grant in aid by the government of Japan in 1985 while 140 bedded Mother and Child Health Centre was established in 1998 through grant in aid by the government of Japan.
Over the last 20 years, both the set-ups were receiving huge burden of patients that kept on increasing. Number of normal deliveries increased from 3,000 per year in 1999 to well over 10000 per year in 2016 while the number of antenatal patients increased from 3,000 in 2,000 to 100,000 in the year 2016.
I informed the JICA and authorities that we had been lacking the facilities of ventilators, space and beds in Children Hospital and MCH on which they committed to provide 167 intensive care beds, four operation theatres and other essential equipment and building for extension of the set-ups, said Dr. Amjad while talking to ‘The News’ on Monday.
He added the project would benefit the patients at Children Hospital and MCH a lot particularly those in need of intensive care. It would help PIMS in achieving the status of the best hospital in Asia and for the purpose, the administration is expecting speedy release of funds for all the approved projects, he said.