Balochistan to get 33 new basic health units

Govt will also establish DHQs in five districts of province

ISLAMABAD:

The Balochistan government has planned to construct 33 new basic health units (BHUs) across the province to ensure best healthcare facilities to people at their nearest.

Talking to APP, an official of the Balochistan government said the existing BHUs in the far-flung areas of the province would be upgraded to the status of rural health centres (RHCs).

The provincial government would also establish district headquarters (DHQs) hospitals in five districts, namely Sohbatpur, Sherani, Barkhan, Duki and Dera Allahyar, he added.

From the development funds, the government has spent around Rs1.761 billion on the establishment of medical colleges in Turbat, Loralai and Khuzdar, while the total cost of the projects was Rs12.104 billion.

The official also apprised that the government waived off outpatient department registration slip fee to provide best healthcare facilities in the public hospitals of the province.

Apart from uplifting the healthcare department of the province, the Balochistan government has announced establishment of hostels in Bolan Medical Complex at Quetta and expansion of Children Hospital Quetta.

Besides, a sum of Rs100 million has been earmarked in the fiscal year 2021-22 for the construction of residential compounds for doctors in seven districts of Balochistan with a total estimated cost of Rs700 million.

Talking about other uplift projects, he said the Balochistan government was establishing Emergency Response Centers at highways of the province with an estimated cost of Rs3.921 billion. For the said project Rs787 million had been issued, while Rs717.640 million was earmarked in the financial year 2021-22.

Among the new projects, the provincial government was all set to establish a dental college in Balochistan at a cost of Rs1.396 billion. So far Rs295 million has been released for the project.

The government was also working to create around 750 new posts in the health sector in FY2021-22 to ensure provision of quality treatment in the province.

Another milestone project of the provincial government was launching Balochistan Health Card with the cost of Rs5.914 billion to provide up to Rs1 million each to around 1.875 million families for medical treatment.

The provincial government has allocated Rs44.694 billion for the development of health sector in the fiscal year 2021-22, while Rs11.884 billion has been earmarked for non-development expenditures of the sector.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 6^th, 2021.