Punjab Health Road Show held in London

Chief Minister Punjab Muhammad Shehbaz
Sharif has said Pakistani doctors have proved their mettle in the
United Kingdom as well as in other countries of the world.
He said, “Pakistani doctors, surgeons, physicians and health
professionals working abroad are our great ambassadors. Today,
Pakistan needs you and it is the need of the hour that you invest
in health sector in the country and serve the countrymen.”
He said, “Extend your cooperation to the Punjab government for
bringing improvements in health sector. The country has given a lot
to us and the time has come to return the same. Please move ahead
and support the ailing humanity as the Punjab government has needed
the expertise, professionalism and cooperation of the international
medical community for improving the healthcare system as time has
come to return the debts of the nation.”
He was delivering his keynote address at the ceremony held in
connection with Punjab Health Road Show in London, according to a
handout issued here on Monday.
He said the Punjab government has provided tremendous resources
for the improvement of health and education sectors. It is following
the policy of public private partnership for improving the health
sector and this model has proved very successful, he said and added
that no nation or the society could move further without first
improving the healthcare services and bringing improvements in the healthcare services is need of the hour to establish a healthy
society on sustainable basis.
The Chief Minister said that he was diagnosed with the fatal
disease of cancer in 2003 when he was living in exile.”With the
blessings of Allah Almighty and due to the prayers of the people,
I have been cured of this disease. Then, I realized that how the
ordinary people having no resources can cope with his fatal
disease and when I returned to Pakistan then I strived to improve
the healthcare services because I and other members of the elite
can access the best healthcare facilities inside and outside
the country but it will remain a distant dream for the poors.”
“My team has worked very efficiently, diligently and with
sovereign commitment to improve the healthcare system in the
Punjab. As a result, the province of Punjab is moving towards
the right direction,” he added.

The Chief Minister said the Punjab government has adopted unique steps
for improving the healthcare facilities and the health infrastructure has been made commensurate with the current needs.
The Punjab government is moving towards the right direction with
regard to health sector reforms, he said and added that there are
challenges but effective measures have been adopted to deal with them.
He said, “Pakistan and UK have historically important friendly
economic relations. We appreciate the support of the UK for the
development of health, education and social sectors. The cooperation of
DFID is praiseworthy in education, health and technical education
sectors. We are thankful for full cooperation of the DFID for improvement
of these sectors.”
He said the Punjab government purchases medicines worth 600 million
dollars every year to provide the same to the patients free of cost.
He added the MRI and CT Scan machines in hospitals were kept out of
order willingly and the ordinary people were forced to conduct their
tests from outside. “However, we have installed medical equipments
especially the CT Scan machines in hospitals through public private partnership,” he said and added the Punjab government is providing
CT Scan machines to all the hospitals of the province. He said that with
the installation of these machines, the people would have 24 hours
facility at their doorsteps.
He said that janitorial services have been outsourced and due to the
outsourcing of these services, improvement has been brought in the general cleanliness conditions in the hospitals. Similarly, parking, security and other facilities have also been outsourced for the first time in the
history of the country, he added.
He said that various reforms to dispose off the hospital waste were
obstructed many times, adding “We had machines but they were not operated.
I am thankful to my team that work has been started in the right direction to dispose off the hospital waste.”
He said that steps have been adopted to improve the healthcare sector
have brought positive results and the mission of serving the ailing
humanity has been further accelerated.
The Chief Minister said that it is regrettable that no latest
biomedical workshop is available in Pakistan and work has been started
over it now. The Punjab government is moving towards biomedical workshop,
he said and added the people associated with health sector in
UK can extend their cooperation.
He said that Government Tayyip Erdogan Trust Hospital is providing
latest healthcare facilities to the people in Southern Punjab. The
extension project comprising of 250-bed is near to completion, he said
and added that state-of-the-art Pakistan Kidney & Liver Transplant
Institute is being set up with a cost of Rs 19 billion in the provincial metropolis.
He said the Punjab government will establish new hospitals under
public private partnership. “You move further and invest in the health sector; no bureaucratic snafu will ever hinder your way. Every job will
be done speedily and in a transparent manner and no one will ask for any undue favor. I shall supervise every task,” he added.
The Chief Minister said that a transparent culture free from any
corruption has been promoted and all the development projects are high symbols of quality, speed and transparency. Under this transparency
policy, resources worth billions of rupees have been saved in different development projects of infrastructure and energy sectors, he added.
He said that apt opportunities are available for investment in
health sector and added that this conference would prove beneficial for health sector’s development.
He further said that Pakistan faced acute shortage of energy during
the last many years and due to the untiring efforts of the incumbent government, the energy crisis is about to an end.
He said that the holding of health conference in London is an
important step and the recommendations of this event will help to
improve the health sector further. “I am thankful to the expatriate Pakistanis from health sector for their participation in this workshop,”
he added.
The British doctors and health experts have shown interest in
investment and extension of cooperation in health sector in Punjab and
paid tributes to Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif for his wonderful health related reforms.
They vowed to cooperate with Punjab government for investment in
health sector and said that Punjab is progressing in the real sense
under the leadership of Shehbaz Sharif.

Source: APP