Governor says PTI reforms damaged health delivery system

ABBOTTABAD: Governor Ghulam Ali said on Thursday the Medical Teaching Institutions reforms under the direct control of Dr Nausherwan Burki, a cousin of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan badly damaged the health delivery system in the province .He said this after the inauguration of the oxygen plant at a cost of 200 million rupees at the Women and Children Hospital.Director Health Shaukat Ali, UNICEF Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Country Head Dr. Inamullah Khan, Hazara Commissioner Aamir Sultan, and other officials were present on the occasion. The governor said the government resources were misused in the past in hospitals and schools. “The MTI Act will be abolished from the province as equipment worth millions of rupees are non-functional,” he added.

The governor thanked UNICEF for setting up a second oxygen plant in Abbottabad in addition to other services. Referring to the strike by the employees at the Ayub Teaching Hospital (ATI) in Abbottabad, the governor said patients are suffering and asked the doctors to call off the protest in the larger interest of the people. He requested the young doctors to end the strike, adding that the doors of the Governor’s House are open for people to solve the problems.KP Director General Health Shaukat Ali said reforms are being introduced in the health sector to improve facilities at the tehsil and district hospitals.He said an oxygen plant has been installed in Charsadda and Abbottabad in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Five plants have been installed across the country with the support of UNICEF.Earlier, doctors representatives from ATI met the governor and briefed him on the demands due to which employees were on strike in the hospital.They talked of the alleged corrupt practices and demanded removal of Chairman of the Board of Governors Dr Asim Yousaf who they alleged was an employee of Shaukat Khanum Hospital in Lahore