‘Improve emergency wards in THQ, DHQ hospitals’

LAHORE : Punjab Health Minister Dr Yasmin Rashid has directed all the medical superintendents of the tehsil and district headquarters hospitals to ensure that the emergencies of their respective hospitals are up to the mark within 15 days.

She was chairing a meeting at Primary and Secondary Health Department on Saturday, according to a handout issued here.

Primary and Secondary Health Department Secretary Ali Bahadur Qazi briefed the minister on the revamping programme. “Revamping of DHQ and THQ hospitals across the province must be expedited” the minister directed him.

She also said the Punjab Information Technology Board might ensured that all help lines for the general public were working, and the call centre staff should guide the callers in a well manner. “No compromise on merit on recruitments and promotions in Health Department would be made” she wowed.

Expressing her satisfaction over the availability of free medicines at public health facilities, she also warned that no negligence with regard to the availability of free medicines would be tolerated.

Dr Yasmin Rashid directed implementation of the family planning programme in letter and spirit. “Robo Call Service is a good initiative to provide health advice” she appreciated but desired that this service should also be in both Punjabi and Seraiki languages as well. She expressed her displeasure on reported manhandling incidents at some public hospitals and warned that “either hospital staff mend their behaviour or look for another job”. “The government shall not leave any stone unturned to enhance trust of general public in government health facilities” she concluded.

The enquiry report regarding Jhang measles toll was submitted to the minister by Deputy Secretary (Tech) Dr Yadullah.

Customs duty: Collector of Customs Jamil Nasir Khan chaired a monthly revenue meeting of the officers of the MCC Appraisement, Lahore, at Mughalpura Dry Port on Saturday.

He noted with a sense of satisfaction that the Collectorate had surpassed the target of customs duty for the months of July and August, 2018 with a wide margin. The Collectorate collected Rs 3767 million during August, witnessing growth of 31 per cent despite no import clearances by the importers for almost one week due to Eid holidays. The collector congratulated his team on surpassing the target and stressed upon them that maximum facilities should be extended to the importers by ensuring early clearance of their consignments.