Scope of Anti-Rape Crisis Cell in hospitals to be expanded
LAHORE: Provincial Health Minister Khawaja Salman Rafique on Monday chaired a meeting in the Department of Specialised Healthcare and Medical Education regarding the establishment of Anti-Rape Crisis Cell in government hospitals.
Additional Secretary Technical Dr M Waseem, Deputy Secretary Technical Dr Abdul Rehman, Section Officer Sana Javed, Sidra Humayun from United Nations Women, Tania Durrani from United Nations Population Fund and Anam from Legal Aid Society also attended the meeting.
The officers concerned also briefed the minister in this regard. Khawaja Salman on the occasion said that today we have all gathered on an important issue. ‘Collecting evidence data in the Anti-Rape Crisis Cell is of utmost importance. The scope of this cell will be expanded to the provincial level’.
He said societies that do not respect women become jungles. Strict legislation will be ensured in this regard across the province and steps will be taken to improve the working of Anti-Rape Crisis Cells, he added. The efforts of NGOs cooperating with the Punjab government were also appreciated in the meeting.
Pediatric heart surgery programme
An important meeting was held in the Specialised Healthcare and Medical Education Department under the chairmanship of Provincial Health Minister Khawaja Salman Rafique regarding the Chief Minister’s Children’s Heart Surgery Programme.
The meeting was attended by Secretary Health Punjab Azmat Mahmood, Special Secretary Development Syed Wajid Ali Shah, Chief Executive Officer Punjab Health Initiative Management Company Dr Ali Razaq, Prof Salman, Nousheen Fayyaz from PITB and others.
Dr Farqad Alamgir also participated in the meeting through a video link. Provincial Health Minister Khawaja Salman Rafique reviewed the Chief Minister’s Children’s Heart Surgery Programme in detail during the meeting.
The minister, while speaking at the meeting, said that the coordination of the relevant departments was being further improved to make the CM’s Children’s Heart Surgery Programme successful.
Feedback has been taken from all the relevant government and private children’s hospitals regarding this programme. Alhamdulillah, since the launch, more than 1,340 children have undergone successful surgeries under the programme.
Besides, no negligence is being tolerated in the programme. Khawaja Salman Rafique said that consideration is being given to further expanding the scope of the programme. The process is also under way to empanel more hospitals for the improvement of this programme.
Under this programme, there is a clear reduction in the waiting list of innocent children for surgeries. He said that under this program, the capacity of government children's hospitals in Punjab has also been increased. The Punjab government is ensuring transparency of the entire system of the pediatric heart surgery programme.
