Govt plans healthcare city on Pak-Afghan border

Health minister opens referral facility at Torkham, says medical tourism policy ready

LANDI KOTAL: After Pak-Afghan Healthcare Referral Facility, the government will be offering medical tourism to Afghanistan by establishing a healthcare city in the border district of Khyber.

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Health Minister Hisham Inamullah said this while inaugurating the Pak-Afghan Healthcare Referral Facility at Zero Point on Pak-Afghan border in Torkham.

Inamullah said: “on the directives of Prime Minister Imran Khan we are promoting medical tourism with Afghanistan. We will soon establish a healthcare city under public-private partnership where all the big healthcare providers will have their outlets under one roof.”

Inaugurating the referral facility in the border district of Khyber on Saturday, he told the media that the purpose of the healthcare city would be to provide emergency health services to Afghan nationals, tourists on the border and also to Pakistani citizens who are working on the border.

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“We have already formulated the policy for medical tourism in K-P to facilitate Afghan patients,” he said adding that soon a healthcare city would be established where all the big names in medical services providers in the province and outside would have their branches. This would also be a major source of earning for public exchequers and would also help us strengthen ties with Afghanistan.

Earlier the health minister paid a visit to the house of the Pakistan fast bowler Shaheen Afridi who had been ill since the past few weeks.

While interacting with him in his residence, the health minister has said that Pakistan is cricket loving nation and we desire to see you back on the cricket ground soon.

“We are fully committed to eliminating dengue from the province and I have directed to use all resources to end the menace from the province,” the minister said.

He also announced that a trauma center would be built in District Headquarter (DHQ) Hospital and would be named after fast bowler Shaheen Afridi. He also announced that emergency, gyne and cardio wards would also be established.

Dengue outbreak

K-P Health Department is proactively tackling the ongoing dengue outbreak in various areas of the province, on a daily basis, said a statement issued by Dr Inamullah.

The Daily Situation Report is shared with media and disseminated through social media highlighting the exact number of suspected cases and deaths if any.

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This is the same practice since the 2017 dengue outbreak in which dengue suspected cases, hospital admissions and deaths were reported on a daily basis but probably in a more transparent manner. The K-P health department and the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf (PTI) government aim for transparency in reporting and always have the credit to report cases and deaths after confirmation.

Furthermore, false reporting of dengue cases and deaths is highly discouraged as it is highly detrimental to the cause of dengue prevention and control in the province.

A glaring example is an incident reported on social media regarding the sad demise of a child Abu Bakr, who actually died due to life threatening meningitis, but unfortunately was wrongly tagged as a death due to dengue. In reality, thus far there have been no deaths recorded due to dengue viral fever this year. All such false reporting is highly discouraged as it creates a false sense of panic within the community.

According to reports dengue continues to spread in the province with as many as 25 new cases reported in the provincial capital alone and a further six in Buner.

According to health officials, as many as 22 new cases were reported at the medical teaching institute (MTI) of Khyber Teaching Hospital (KTH) in Peshawar.

A further two cases were reported at the Lady Reading Hospital and another at the Hayatabad Medical Complex (HMC).

Similarly, six cases were reported at the Buner District Headquarters Hospital (DHQ) on Wednesday. The hospital, meanwhile, has discharged four dengue affected patients after they completed their medicinal course.

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Buner DHQ Medical Superintendent Dr Fazal Wahab told the media that thus far six of the patients they have received have tested as positive for the dengue virus.

Of these, he said that they have discharged four after they completed their treatment. Two patients, he said, remain under observation in the facility.

“We have designated three wards to house dengue patients,” Dr Wahab said, adding that of these wards, two are dedicated for men while the other is for women.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 15^th, 2019.