Lahore, August 07, 2018 (PPI-OT): Caretaker provincial health minister Dr. Jawad Sajid Khan called on chief minister Punjab Dr. Hasan Askari at his office here today. During the meeting, different matters including pace of work on ongoing healthcare projects and further improvement of health facilities came under discussion. Steps relating to eradication of diseases like dengue, polio and congo virus were also discussed in the meeting. Dr. Askari directed to ensure implementation on the plan devised for overcoming dengue, polio and congo virus and added that line departments should proactively perform their duties in this regard. Full attention should be paid to the eradication of dengue, polio and congo virus adding that all necessary resources should be utilized for that purpose.
The anti-polio campaign should be made successful to make Pakistan a polio-free country in toto. The success of anti-polio campaign is a guarantee to healthy future of the children, he said. No stone should left unturned to make Pakistan a polio-free country in the region and it is sanguine that Punjab government is working day and night for the eradication of polio. The children can be saved from this deadly disease through timely vaccination, he added. The continuous use of measures aimed at eradication of polio is the collective responsibility of the society and public platforms like masajid, religious seminaries, schools and line departments will have to jointly work to make anti-polio campaign a success.
The health department and other relating agencies will have to vigorously perform their duties for the eradication of fatal disease like polio, he added. He also appealed to the parents to become part of governmental efforts aiming at eliminating polio from the country. The chief minister directed that necessary safety measures should be adopted in wake of upcoming religious festival of Eid-al-Adha for protection from congo virus and line departments should ensure implementation of devised plan in this regard. Every possible step should be taken for keeping the people safe from congo virus and immediate precautionary measures should be taken where there is any threat of spread of this virus, he said.
Special screening of cattle markets should be done and anti-germs spray should also be conducted there. Similarly, implementation on precautionary measures devised by the WHO should be ensured at every cost, he said. He said that health and livestock departments should take every possible step aiming at adoption of necessary precautionary measures to remain safe from this virus. He said that dengue surveillance should be expedited and line departments should perform their duties with full vigilance. No leniency will be tolerated with regard to implementation on devised plan for eradication of dengue disease, he said.
He said that provision of best healthcare facilities in hospitals is the basic right of the people because a healthy society can be formed only through the provision of such necessary facilities to the masses. The caretaker government has taken steps on priority basis for early completion of ongoing healthcare schemes because it is the fundamental duty of the state to provide quality healthcare facilities to its people.
The concerned officials should, therefore, proactively perform their duties so that general public could be provided quality healthcare facilities at their doorstep, he added. Dr. Askari said that Rs.15.44 crore has been released by the caretaker government for free treatment of deserving patients and added that best healthcare facilities are being provided to the people because it is responsibility of every government to provide resources for best healthcare facilities to the masses.
The resources should be further enhanced for provision of healthcare facilities to the people, he maintained. Provision of funds for free treatment of patients is no obligation but a duty of the government because serving the ailing humanity is a worship. The process of free treatment of deserving patients should be continued in future as well, concluded the chief minister. Earlier, Jawad Sajid apprised the chief minister about performance of the health department.
For more information, contact:
Directorate General Public Relations, Punjab (DGPR)
Government of the Punjab
21-Mahmood Gaznavi Road (Abbot Road), Lahore, Pakistan
Tel: +92-42-99201390-1-2
Fax: +92-42-99201371-2
E-mail: info@dgpr.punjab.gov.pk
Website: www.dgpr.punjab.gov.pk