Turkey to nurse Punjab health dept

Foreign delegation visits King Edward Medical University

LAHORE: The Turkish health ministry has agreed to extend technical cooperation and consultation to the Punjab Health Department (PHF) for the development of the nursing sector. The cooperation would also include capacity-building and training of human resources and further improve the system of human organ transplantation.

The decision was taken during a visit to King Edward Medical University by a Turkish delegation on Saturday. The delegation, on a weeklong tour of Punjab, was briefed about the medical education system and the admission policy, and the rules and regulations of Punjab Human Organs Transplantation Authority and its implementation.

The delegation also visited the specialised healthcare and medical education secretary’s office in Civil Secretariat, where the Punjab Health Foundation (PHF) Managing Director Dr Sohail Saqlain and Prime Minister National Health Insurance Scheme’s Dr Saira Siddique briefed the delegation about their respective programmes.

“Soft loans have been provided to the private sector for setting up their clinics and diagnostic centers,” Dr Sohail said adding that interest-free loan schemes amounting to Rs700,000 had been recently introduced for doctors and health professionals.

Proposals for collaboration with PHF through a chain of private Turkish hospitals were also discussed.

Dr Saira said a pilot project for health insurance was also being launched in four districts in Punjab.

The first scheme of the project includes an insurance card worth Rs50,000 per family for treating common diseases and procedures, whereas the second package with a coverage of Rs250,000 was set for one family per year for chronic and complicated diseases.

Turkish delegation head Dr Selami Kilick termed the scheme identical to the Turkish health green card system. The Turkish health ministry would fully cooperate and guide the Punjab government to make the programmes successful, he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 9^th, 2016.