Special Grant of Rs22 Billion Approved for Immediate Clearance of Medicine Arrears in Hospitals: Khawaja Salman

By Farzana Chaudhry – Lahore, Pakistan

LAHORE: Punjab Health Minister Khawaja Salman Rafique has announced that the provincial government has issued a special grant of Rs22 billion for the immediate payment of outstanding medicine arrears in public hospitals across the province. He said the grant, approved by Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif, is in addition to the regular health budget and aims to ensure uninterrupted availability of essential medicines.

He made the statement while chairing the 19th Syndicate Meeting of Rawalpindi Medical University (RMU) at the Department of Specialized Healthcare and Medical Education in Lahore. Parliamentary Secretary and Syndicate Member Zia Ullah Shah, MPA Raja Hanif, and Vice Chancellor RMU Prof. Muhammad Umar attended the meeting, along with other officials both in person and via video link.

Additional Secretary Medical Education Dr. Sidra Saleem, Director Budget and Accounts Hammad ul-Rab, representatives of the Law Department, Deputy Secretary Finance Zeeshan, and Higher Education Commission official Anwar Gilani also joined the session online.

The meeting lauded Vice Chancellor Prof. Muhammad Umar and his team for securing RMU’s position as Pakistan’s top-ranking medical university in the Higher Education Commission (HEC) rankings.

Several agenda items were approved, including:

Annual budget estimates for FY 2025–26

A self-sustainable model for the Institute of Allied Health Sciences

Approval of MRI services contract, ventilator servicing, boiler repairs, and furniture procurement for Holy Family Hospital and Benazir Bhutto Hospital Rawalpindi

Khawaja Salman Rafique emphasized that the government is working to enhance treatment facilities in all public hospitals. He highlighted that financial transparency is being strictly ensured in Punjab’s medical universities and that modern research is being actively promoted.

He also praised RMU for its strong performance in three PhD clinical specialties—Medicine, Gastroenterology, and Psychiatry.