Historic Steps Being Taken in Health Sector: Khawaja Salman RafiqueSays Punjab government striving to provide best health facilities to public

By Farzana Chaudhry
Lahore, Pakistan
The 104th meeting of the Board of Directors of the Punjab Health Initiative Management Company (PHIMC) was held under the chairmanship of Provincial Health Minister Khawaja Salman Rafique. Secretary Specialized Healthcare and Medical Education Azmat Mahmood Khan participated via video link, along with Dr. Adnan Khan, Deputy Secretary Finance Zeeshan, and Member Health P&D Shafaat Ali. Other attendees included CEO Punjab Healthcare Commission Dr. Saqib Aziz, CEO PHIMC Dr. Ali Razaq, Dr. Zahid Pervez, Dr. Shujaat Ali, Parveen Agha, Director PITB Nousheen Fayyaz, and other officials.
During the meeting, satisfaction was expressed over the performance of the Chief Minister’s Children’s Heart Surgery Program, Chief Minister’s Special Initiative for Transplant Program, and Chief Minister’s Dialysis Program, all launched under the leadership of Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif. Various PHIMC agendas were presented, and detailed briefings were given on ongoing health sector projects. The implementation report on decisions from the 103rd meeting was reviewed, and terms of reference for third-party validation of the Children’s Heart Surgery Program were emphasized for submission to the Monitoring and Evaluation Committee.
The Board also approved the hiring of a Director of Communication to highlight the significance of the Chief Minister’s unique health programs among the public. Secretary Azmat Mahmood Khan directed that newly approved initiatives, including the Chief Minister’s Special Initiative for Cancer Patients and the Cardiac Surgery Program, be presented in the next meeting. The minutes of the 103rd meeting were formally approved.
Provincial Health Minister Khawaja Salman Rafique said that historic and fundamental steps are being taken in the health sector under Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif’s leadership, with the goal of providing the best possible health facilities to the people. He highlighted the impact of the Chief Minister’s Children’s Heart Surgery Program, noting that over 9,390 children have received completely free heart surgeries across Punjab at a cost of billions of rupees. The program has also extended services to children from other regions, including 381 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 225 from Azad Kashmir, 99 from Islamabad, 28 from Balochistan, 29 from Gilgit-Baltistan, and 23 from Sindh.
Under the Chief Minister’s Special Initiative for Transplant Program, 1,099 transplants have been performed to date, including 586 renal, 298 cochlear, 178 liver, 16 bone marrow, and 20 corneal transplants. Meanwhile, the Chief Minister’s Dialysis Program has provided free dialysis treatment to over 1.182 million patients, with 32,431 patients currently registered for treatment across hospitals.
Secretary Azmat Mahmood Khan emphasized that maximum facilities should be made available to patients at designated hospitals, and directed that any issues faced by patients be resolved on a priority basis to ensure smooth and effective healthcare delivery.