Health minister vows to introduce new system at BHUs

Telemedicine centre inaugurated in Mansehra

MANSEHRA: The first-ever telemedicine centre was inaugurated at Basic Health Unit (BHU) Behali in Mansehra district on Monday.

“I am pleased to inaugurate this pioneer telemedicine pilot project in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and if funds are available, this modern medical treatment system would be introduced at basic health units across the province,” Minister for Health Shahram Tarakai said at the inaugural ceremony of the telemedicine at Behali.

Advisor to Chief Minister Zargul Khan and district president of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Babar Saleem Swati were also present on the occasion.

The minister also observed discussion of a panel of doctors sitting in Peshawar and Islamabad simultaneously and interacting with a patient sitting at the telemedicine centre and later on prescribed medicines for him online. “This is what I want for the people of my province as patient is sitting at this centre and a panel of doctors sitting far-off is examining him live and prescribing him medicines,” Tarakai told reporters.

He said the government had kept health as its top priority and this revolutionary method of examining patients in such remote part of province was in fact a dream for him which came true. The minister visited King Abdullah Teaching Hospital (Kath). He also warned private Frontier Medical College (FMC) administration to honour its commitments with hospital otherwise its contract would be terminated.

Dr Mohammad Javed Tanoli, the medical superintendent of Kath, briefed the minister about the hospital destroyed in the October 8, 2005 earthquake. He said the hospital was scheduled to be reconstructed in 2012 but it couldn’t happen. “We have been running this hospital in limited capacity of 170 beds instead of 350 in a nursing hostel even then good healthcare services are provided to patients,” said Tanoli.

He said that currently 55 medical officers were posted in the hospital and posts of 44 were still lying vacant on which health minister said that those posts would be filled shortly.