Punjab Health Minister Dr. Yasmin Rashid said here on Monday that Punjab has presented a historical and public friendly budget according to the needs of the people. The Health Minister said that the budget has been designed according to the needs of the public. Prime Minister Imran Khan and Chief Minister Punjab Sardar Usman Buzdar has won the hearts of the people with this great budget. The Health Minister said that the previous governments never quite provided relief to common man. She said, “The government has provided relief to the public by cutting down on its own expenses. The PTI government believes in spending public money on public welfare alone. The allocation of Rs. 370 billion for health is a great gift from Prime Minister Imran Khan. Government of the Punjab has provided Rs. 106 billion relief package for COVID-19. The development budget has been increased 182% with addition Rs. 96 billion compared to last year. An amount of Rs. 80 billion has been earmarked for Universal Health Insurance Program. The entire population of Punjab will be provided free of cost quality healthcare facilities. Under this program, more than 110 million population of Punjab shall be provided quality insurance. The Minister further said, “Development budget of Rs. 78 billion has been proposed for the Specialized Healthcare and Medical Education Department. Children Hospital Paeds burn center, 1000-bedded General Hospital, 200 bedded Mother and Child Hospital Multan, and CT Scan machine installation at Nishter Hospital are among the key projects for the SH&ME Department. In Rajanpur, Layyah, Attock, Bahawalnagar and Sialkot, state of the art mother and child hospitals will be set up with Rs. 24 billion.” The Minister added that proposal of Rs. 19 billion development budget has been tabled for Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department. She said Rs. 6 billion will be spent on a special program for upgradation of 119 THQ hospitals and revamping. DHQs will be established in Chiniot, Hafizabad and Chakwal with a budget of Rs. 16.6 billion. An amount of Rs. 11 billion has been earmarked for preventive programs like HIV/AIDs, Hepatitis and similar diseases. The Health Minister further said that overall, 36 BHUs are being upgraded to RHCs. A special amount of Rs. 10 billion has been reserved for Corona vaccination of entire population of Punjab. An amount of Rs. 35.25 billion has been reserved for provision of medicines in hospitals. In 14 cities of the province, trauma centers are being set up with a cost of Rs. 3.5 billion in 14 cities.