Islamabad, November 29, 2020 (PPI-OT): Honourable Afghan Minister for Public Health, Mr. Ahmad Jawad Usmani and H.E Mr. Mansoor Ahmad Khan, Pakistan’s ambassador to Afghanistan jointly inaugurated today an Oxygen Production Plant fixed at Muhammed Ali Jinnah Hospital at Kabul gifted by the government of Pakistan to cater to the needs of the Afghan patients. This hospital is a sign of good will gesture by the government of Pakistan where free of cost treatment is being provided to the Afghan patients.
The installment of this plant will make the doctors to treat covid-19 patients effectively as the plant has the capacity of providing Oxygen to more than 200 beds in addition to extra 50 oxygen balloons per hour and around 1200 balloons in 24 hours. Jinnah Hospital is a 200-bed, state-of-the-art hospital in Kabul, funded by the government of Pakistan which was initiated in 2007 under the Pakistan Technical Assistance Programme and handed over to the government of Afghanistan in 2019 on completion.
On this occasion, H.E Mr. Mansoor Ahmad Khan said that Pakistan had pledged $1billion as assistance to Afghanistan. Only in health sector three hospitals had been completed at a cost of $72 million which include Jinnah Hospital at Kabul, Naib Aminullah Hospital at Logar and Nishter Kidney hospital at Jalalabad. He further stated that we had proposed that we might convert this hospital into a Post Graduate Teaching hospital wherein doctors trained in Pakistan could continue their post graduate training under supervision of leading medical institutes of Pakistan.
He also expressed his view that he also wished to extend the existing facilities in Jinnah Hospital by incorporating cancer block and other facilities as required by the Afghan patients. He further said that we had been closely coordinating with the Afghan government through ministry of health and ministry of Foreign Affairs on aforementioned proposals. He also elaborated upon new visa policy for the Afghan nationals wherein special priority had been given to the Afghan patients even serious patients are given visas on Torkham border which shows serious commitment by the government of Pakistan. The inauguration ceremony was attended by health professionals and other dignitaries and etc.
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