Advisor to Chief Minister Punjab on Health Khawaja Salman Rafique has said that completion of ongoing development schemes and upgradation of DHQ and THQ hospitals is the top priority and in the next fiscal year, nine centers of excellence will be set up in different cities of the province while three billion rupees are being allocated for Pakistan Kidney & Liver Transplant and Research Institute Lahore for which Chief Minister had already allocated 50 acre of land at Bedian Road. He said that target of provision of treatment facilities to mother and child and labour room facilities at 700 BHUs would be achieved within a month which would be helpful to control maternal mortality rate.
Kh. Salman Rafique said that work has been started on the project of Kidney & Liver Transplant and Research Center at Lahore for which Chief Minister Punjab Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif has already allotted 50 acres land at Badian Raod. He said that 300 million rupees were provided for hiring consultancy firm and other needs during current year while three billion rupees are being allocated for this project during 2015-16. He said that it will be a state-of-the-art kidney and liver transplant center.
Kh. Salman Rafique said that government is taking steps for provision of equal facilities of health in the province and mobile health units are being purchased for providing medical facilities to the people of far-flung areas at local level for which one billion rupees are being allocated in the budget. Moreover, projects of setting up of Institute of Urology & Transplantation at Rawalpindi, kidney centers at Multan and Bahawalpur, expansion in Multan Institute of Cardiology, establishment of children hospitals at Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Rawalpindi and Bahawalpur, setting up of Institute of Pediatric Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery at Children Hospital Lahore and up-gradation of nursing schools to college level and nursing colleges to center of excellence are part of development budget of health for the year 2015-16. Kh. Salman further said that emergency department of newly built institute of Neuro Sciences at LGH has been made functional whereas 290 million rupees are being provided for making the institution fully operational. He said that 60 million rupees have been allocated for establishment of central research lab at PGMI Lahore. Moreover, 50 million rupees would be provided for the constructions of roads within the premises of LGH. He said that health budget 2015-16 would be a landmark in health sector development programme. Government has enhanced health budget from 121 to 166 billion rupees which is a historic step in Punjab and it will bring lot of improvement in healthcare delivery system in the province.
