LAHORE
Provincial Minister for Specialised Healthcare and Medical Education Kh Salman Rafique has said that, on the direction of Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, the expansion of Recep Tayyip Erdogan Hospital, Muzaffargarh has been started with a view to providing better healthcare facilities to the people of South Punjab.
“A total of 250 beds will be included in first phase, while another 250 beds would be made part of this hospital in second phase, with a total project cost of Rs3 billion,” he said after attending the meeting of Board of Trustees of Recep Tayyip Erdogan Hospital Muzaffargarh, according to a handout issued here on Tuesday. Secretary Specialised Healthcare and Medical Education Department Najam Ahmed Shah was also present on this occasion.
Kh Salman Rafique said that regional blood centres were being established at divisional level to prevent spread of blood-borne diseases and provision of screened and healthy blood to the patients. He said that first two RBCs of Multan and Bahawalpur would be run under the control of Indus Hospital Trust.
Kh Salman Rafique was of the view that government was endeavouring to provide quality healthcare services to the people for which all resources were being spent.
diabetes: The Punjab government and Denmark have made a joint effort to fight diabetes and provide easy and free access to the public for treatment and medication.
This was announced during Diabetes Forum held here at a local hotel in Lahore on Tuesday, which was organised by Department of Specialised Healthcare and Medical Education, Punjab. Punjab Minister for Specialised Healthcare & Medical Education (SHC&ME) Khawaja Salman Rafique and Ambassador of Denmark to Pakistan, Ole Thonke inaugurated the forum.
It was informed that diabetes is a growing disease in Pakistan, and according to estimate, about seven million people in Pakistan are living with diabetes.
It is predicted that by 2035, the number of diabetics will nearly double to 12.8 million. Ten people die every hour in Pakistan of diabetes-related causes often by heart attacks and strokes.
Addressing the event, Punjab Minister for SHC&ME, Khawaja Salman Rafique said ‘as per chief minister’s vision for improving health and well-being of people in the province, Punjab Diabetes Forum 2016 would be a great example of public-private partnership and would serve as a milestone to fight against diabetes in Punjab.
This forum will help in identifying the strategies and way forward for the better advocacy and awareness campaigns in Punjab against diabetes.
It will also help in training and educating not only the students and health professionals, including doctors and nurses, but will also create awareness among general public for importance of living a healthy lifestyle.
On this occasion, the Ambassador of Denmark to Pakistan, Ole Thonke said, ‘Denmark has close to 100 years of experience in fighting diabetes. We want to share this with Pakistan.
The public and private sector needs to join forces with all stakeholders in the health sector for the overall public good. In Pakistan, the Embassy of Denmark is actively working with the federal and provincial governments as well as the private sector to address the increasing burden of diabetes.
Najam Ahmed Shah, Secretary SHC&ME said that ‘improving the healthcare system has been a priority of the Punjab government. We are aware of growing diabetes issue in Punjab and taking conducive initiatives with the support of Embassy of Denmark in Pakistan for the advocacy of prevention and control of this disease. The encouraging factor is the belief of the Punjab government in a public-private partnership model and the plan is to implement the same model in the healthcare system as well.’
An ‘Action Plan’ was presented to the minister SHC&ME on the diabetes forum, outlining the activities for future training of health practitioners in Punjab, including doctors and nurses, creating awareness in Punjab for the importance of living a healthy lifestyle. The Punjab Diabetes Forum 2016 will be a great example of a public-private partnership and will act as a milestone in fight against diabetes in Punjab.
