Doctors urged to donate to dams fund

LAHORE: Punjab Health Minister Dr Yasmin Rashid has appealed to the doctors’ community to donate maximum amount to Dam Fund.

According to a handout issued here on Wednesday, the minister in a statement said donation of Rs 3 million from Nishter Medical University Multan was a precedent for other medical institutions. “I am really grateful and admire the initiative taken by Vice Chancellor Nishter Medical University Multan Dr Mustafa Kamal”, she said. “Fund raising drive will become movement and people belong to all walks of life shall participate in Dam Fund”, she hoped.

While appreciating initiative by Prime Minister Imran Khan and Chief Justice of Pakistan, she also appealed to overseas Pakistanis to contribute maximum donations to Dam Fund. The minister also noted that every Pakistani was wholeheartedly wanted to prevent Pakistan from expected water crisis. “Medical education institutes should lead the fundraising drive,” she said.

HIV test of TB patients: Punjab TB Control Programme (PTP) Director Dr Zarfishan Tahir has said that, according to the directions of the health minister, it has been decided to conduct HIV test of TB patients in future to remove the possibility of co-morbidity in such patients.

She said that special teams would visit the districts of Southern Punjab to organise screening camps to find new TB patients. She stated this while chairing a two-day inter-district review meeting, which concluded on Wednesday, organised by the PTP at a local hotel, according to a handout issued here.

The meeting reviewed the performance of the district TB programme in the light of the disease control initiatives, diagnostic and treatment facilities and registration of new TB patients as well as treatment strategy of drug resistant TB patients.

Talking to the media, Dr Zarfishan said that special efforts were required to focus on Southern districts of the province as these areas were neglected in the past. She said that teams of PTP would move towards southern districts after Ashura e Muharrum where they would hold screening camps for registering new TB cases.

PHP: Punjab Highway Patrol have arrested five dacoits with intention of robbery and recovered illegal arms, arrested 27 gamblers and recovered Rs25,360, registered 141 cases against commuters who violated traffic rules and arrested nine drunken.

PHP Post Haroon Rasheed have arrested five dacoits named Naveed, Ali Zubair, Bilal, Sajid and Qasim with the intention of robbery and recovered four pistols, 20 Bullets and four magazines from their possession.