Muharram contingency plan reviewed

LAHORE  :Punjab Specialized Healthcare & Medical Education Minister Khawaja Salman Rafique has directed heads of medical education institutions and medical superintendents of the teaching hospitals to ensure up to mark arrangements according to the contingency plan for emergency during Muharram as per directed by the department. 

He was presiding over a meeting of heads of medical universities and colleges and medical superintendents of teaching hospitals at Civil Secretariat on Monday to review the arrangements.

He ordered special arrangements for the participants of mourning processions/Majalis Aza during Ashura days. Secretary Najam Ahmad Shah, Special Secretary Health Dr. Sajid Mehmood Chohan, Vice Chancellors of Medical Universities, Principals of Medical Colleges, heads of specialized medical institutions and medical superintendents of the teaching hospitals attended the meeting.

The participants of the meeting apprised the Minister of the arrangements made. Secretary Health Najam Ahmad Shah said that medical colleges and the teaching hospitals should also chalk out management plan to combat with any untoward incident.

The meeting was informed that duty roasters of the doctors, surgeons, senior registrars and head of the department have been finalized. Sufficient stock of the medicines and blood bags is available in the hospitals and donors lists have also been prepared for getting blood donations in case of any need.

Najam directed head of the departments to be present to support the staff and no doctor should leave his station without prior permission during the holidays of 9th and 10th Muharram.

He said that close coordination is essential between hospitals administration and the officials of Rescue 1122 for providing ambulance service to the patients. House reclaimed: As a result of the efforts of Overseas Pakistanis Commission (OPC) Punjab, house of an expatriate Pakistani worth Rs10 million was got vacated from the illegal possession of his brother.

Director General OPC, Syed Javed Iqbal Bokhari, informed that Mubashar Iqbal settled in Leno, Italy, lodged a complaint with OPC that he had handed over his house situated in Gujrat to his brother for temporary living, but now his brother has refused to vacate the house. This complaint was referred to District Overseas Pakistanis Committee (DOPC), Gujrat for further proceedings. After the concerted efforts of DOPC members, the house was got vacated from the illegal occupant and handed over to its original owner.The Overseas Pakistanis Commission DG told that so far thousands of complaints of expatriate Pakistanis have been settled amicably.

ACCIDENTS: Around 707 road traffic accidents were reported in Provincial Monitoring Cell of the Punjab Emergency Service (Rescue 1122) in all 37 districts of Punjab in the last 24 hours; in which four lives were lost and 648 serious injured were shifted to different hospitals of relevant districts and tehsils. However, some 199 victims, who sustained minor injuries, were discharged on the spot after provision of first aid by Emergency Medical Teams.