CM assures there will be no hooliganism, strikes

Shehbaz takes jab at agitating young doctors of the province

LAHORE: In a direct reference to the Young Doctors Association of the province, Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif said there will be no protests, backdoor influences, hooliganism or boycotts at healthcare centres established through public-private partnerships.

The CM issued this statement at the inauguration of the 100-bedded Government Tehsil Headquarter Hospital Manawan. He recalled the incident from eight months ago when a patient from Kasur made it to the Jinnah Hospital after several hardships. However, she was forced to lie down on the hospital floor instead of getting any treatment. The impoverished family of the woman had to arrange for a private ambulance, he recalled. However, the patient finally lost the battle and breathed her last due to the lack of necessary care.



The CM said this hospital was the result of a public-private partnership and there will be no hooliganism tolerated. “There were basic health units and rural health centers here in the past, but they functioned only on paper because there were no doctors, nurses or paramedical staff nor any medicines.

“Animals used to roam in the empty buildings. Due to the continuous struggle of the Punjab government, sufficient improvements have been brought to the health sector and the situation is now better.”



He added there was still a great deal that needed to be done and the provincial government was committed to best serving humanity.

“We are fully committed to do even better to improve the quality of healthcare facilities. I shall not sit idle until the common man is provided with the same facilities in public sector hospitals as those accessible to the ultra-rich and the members of the elite.”



The THQ Hospital in Manawanme, the CM said, is fully functional and he was delighted that doctors, nurses and other paramedical staff had worn uniforms and the standards of cleanliness were up to the mark. “This hospital is a wonderful facility and a practical shape of my aspirations. It is an example of the public-private partnership. I have seen in the filter clinic that hundreds of patients are calmly waiting for their turn and there was no rush as doctors are found checking all by turn.

He said the passion to treat ailing patients was lacking in the past and this hospital was devoid of social evils like nepotism, strikes, hooliganism or physical torture.  “Nobody will slap the MS nor will anybody talk to the patients in a rude manner.”

He vowed that the culture of nepotism would be removed from these hospitals and humanity would be served without discrimination.

He said the Punjab government had ensured the provision of quality medicines in public-sector hospitals and the drugs being provided were of better quality than the ones used in private hospitals today. “However, we are in search of better than the best. The hard work of the last four years is giving fruit and there is a marked improvement in the health sector. I shall not sit idle till the people are not provided international level healthcare facilities.” He said that it is the first time in the history of the country that patients of public sector hospitals are getting the same medicines as those in private hospitals. Shehbaz continued that these medicines were of high quality and free from any adulteration.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 7^th, 2017.