Minister announces expansion of children’s heart surgery programme

LAHORE: Punjab Health Minister Khawaja Salman Rafique revealed plans to enhance the capacity of children’s hospitals across Punjab under the Chief Minister’s Children’s heart surgery programme.

The announcement was made during a meeting, chaired by the minister at the Department of Specialized Healthcare and Medical Education, here on Thursday.The minister received a comprehensive briefing from the Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB) on the progress of the heart surgery initiative. He expressed his satisfaction, stating, “Alhamdulillah, over 200 children have been successfully operated on within the first two weeks of the program.

The government is committed to expanding the scope of this initiative, Insha-Allah. “He emphasised that the programme had significantly reduced the waiting time for surgeries. “Before this initiative, parents faced long delays, sometimes months, for their children’s surgeries. Now, the government is closely monitoring the program through a transparent dashboard system,” he added.

The meeting was attended by key officials including Punjab Health Secretary Azmat Mahmood Khan, Special Secretary Development Syed Wajid Ali Shah, Additional Secretary Dr. Waheed, Vice Chancellor University of Child Health Sciences Professor Masood Sadiq, and CEO Punjab Health Initiative Management Company Dr Ali Razaq.