Health reforms: Govt offers INGOs to build hospitals, medical colleges

Pakistan delegation to visit Turkey to replicate health system

LAHORE: The Punjab government has decided to offer non-governmental organisations (NGOs) from various countries to establish state-of-the-art hospitals and medical colleges in different areas of the province on a public-private partnership basis.

This was decided during a meeting of a special committee to discuss health reforms strategy and to review arrangements of the upcoming tour of technocrats of the health sector to Ankara and Istanbul next week.

According to the strategy, newly-established tertiary healthcare outlets will be offered to make use of health facilities and human resources available in nearby public sector hospitals. The new outlets would be allowed to affiliate with surrounding government-sector hospitals for teaching as well as consultancy purposes along with assuming the management of public hospitals. For the purpose, the government will provide well-reputed NGOs with the land required free of cost.

The meeting was informed that on the directions of Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, a high-level seven-member delegation — headed by Punjab Additional Chief Secretary (ACS) Shumail Ahmad Khawaja — will leave for Turkey for a week-long study tour on November 6.

The delegation will explore different areas of collaboration in the health sector with the Turkish government. The areas comprise a pharmacy system, health management, information system, and vaccination programme for children, hospital waste management, blood transfusion services and other areas where Pakistan could replicate the Turkish system. Shumail informed the meeting that the chief minister had directed to include study of fire safety and fire prevention system in both Ankara and Istanbul so that incidents of fire in various cities of Punjab could be dealt with effectively.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 2^nd, 2016.