‘Nawaz betrayed commitment by not returning to country’

MULTAN: Punjab Health Minister Dr Yasmin Rashid has said former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has betrayed his commitment by not returning to the country.

Addressing a press conference here on Tuesday, she said that no new medical reports of Nawaz Sharif had been submitted to the government. She said a court had declared him an absconder. However, the minister said the government had the guarantor, who guaranteed Nawaz Sharif’s return.

Later, addressing a road show organised by the Punjab Health Foundation at the Government Emerson College Multan, the Punjab minister said that the Punjab government would provide health cards to 20.2 million by the end of this year. The government had also introduced special incentives for providing loan to the private sector, she added. She told that the government had allocated Rs 40 billion to ensure availability of health facilities in the private sector.

Punjab Health Minister Dr Yasmin Rashid said that provision of employment for health professionals in the private sector was our priority. She said that it was our mission to provide health facilities to every citizen of Punjab.

She said that the Punjab government would use Rs 21 billion in the health sector provided by the federal government. She said that the government was spending Rs 30 billion on the establishment of three more hospitals in Rajanpur, Layyah and Bahawalnagar besides Nishtar phase-II and Cardiology Hospital in Dera Ghazi Khan.

The minister said that the government would not compromise on health facilities. She informed that 42pc health cards had been distributed among the people in Sahiwal and DG Khan.

The health minister said that previous governments invested funds of the South Punjab on other projects. She claimed that development work was in full swing now in the South Punjab.

She said that funds were being provided soon for the expansion project of Multan Cardiology Hospital.

She claimed that the government had made record recruitments and provided permanent jobs to 32,000 doctors, mail nurses and pharmacists through the Punjab Public Service Commission. The Punjab minister said that the Punjab Health Foundation Office would be set up soon in Multan.

South Punjab Additional Chief Secretary Zahid Akhtar Zaman said that the road show of the Punjab Health Foundation and inauguration of various schemes in the South Punjab had historical significance.

Punjab Health Secretary Nabeel Ahmad Awan said that the Punjab Health Department would ensure provision of health cards to all the families of the province through the Universal Health Coverage.

Punjab Health Foundation MD Dr Khurshid said that they thank the minister for providing immense facilities to the people belonging to the medical field.