Public health: Rehabilitation centres to be set up for disabled

These will provide artificial limbs orthopedic surgery and physiotherapy facilities

LAHORE:

The provincial government plans to establish nine rehabilitation centres to provide modern healthcare facilities to the disabled in all divisions across the province, Adviser to Chief Minister on Health Khwaja Salman Rafique said on Saturday.

He told a meeting at the Civil Secretariat that the centres would help those who had lost limbs in road accidents or terrorist attacks. He said that children born with various disorders would also benefit from the facility.

“The centres will not only provide artificial limbs to the deserving patients, these will also provide orthopedic surgery and physiotherapy facilities,” Rafique said. The adviser said the initiative was another step towards the government’s vision of providing healthcare facilities without discrimination.

Earlier, he was briefed about a model rehabilitation centre established in Muzaffargarh. The CHAL Foundation and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) would cooperate for completing the project.

Rafique was informed that in the first phase, three centers would be established in Rawalpindi, Sargodha and Bahawalpur for which Rs650 million had been allocated. He was told that 5,000 square-foot would be required for each centre.

Additional Health Secretary (Technical) Salman Shahid was appointed focal person for the project. The health secretary ordered that a master plan be prepared for the project.

Medical Education and Tertiary Healthcare Secretary Jawwad Raffique Malik, Special Health Secretary Gulzar Hussain Shah, MPAs Aalia Aftab and Mehmood Leghari, Planning and Development Board Member (Health) Dr Shabana, Additional Finance Secretary Noorul Ain, officers of the Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB) and representatives of the International Council of Red Crescent attended the meeting.

‘Dengue efforts should be stepped up’

Minister for Labour and Human Resource Raja Ashfaq Sarwar told heads of government departments participating in the anti-dengue campaign that the shortage of human resources should be met to control the epidemic.  He said strict action should be taken against dengue staff absent from duty. He said workers should be trained in indoor and outdoor surveillance. He said field staff should be monitored and a sanitation patrol team should be recruited.

“Broken equipment should be fixed immediately and availability of medicines and chemicals should be ensured so that there is no hindrance to the drive,” he said.  He issued these instructions while presiding over a weekly dengue control review meeting at the Commissioner’s Office in Rawalpindi.  Sarwar said all departments should formulate an anti-dengue plan and make a coordinated drive for eradication of dengue. He said that the performance of dengue control teams and surveillance staff should be monitored at union council level and anti-dengue activities should be reviewed daily through supervisory staff.  The provincial minister said that besides residential areas, low-lying places at trade centres, under-construction buildings, junkyards, graveyards and parks should be cleaned.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 27^th, 2015.