The Senate Standing Committee on National Health Services, Regulations, and Coordination on Tuesday expressed indignation at the authorities for the delay in the provision of the Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machine at the National Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine (NIRM).
During the discussion, the committee, chaired by Dr Humayun Mohmand, questioned who will be responsible for the suffering and probable casualties of the children due to the delay in the delivery of the machine.
The chairman said the committee will carry out visits to all the hospitals from March.
Members of the committee expressed their anger over the delay in the delivery of the MRI machine, saying “If this was a need for the marriage of the children of the household of any officer, it would have been taken care of by now but since this work was for the welfare of the public, it has not completed yet.”
The members observed that the cost of the machine was increased due to the rise in the rate of the US dollar.
“Who is responsible for this? Why was the MRI project delayed,” they questioned.
The NIRM officials clarified that the case related to the project was pending before the courts and the Islamabad High Court granted the permission a day earlier.
At this, the chairman of the committee directed to resolve the matter within 10 days.
Meanwhile, representatives from the Pakistan Institute of Medical Science (PIMS) apprised the committee that the MRI will be functional in March next month while at the Federal Government Polyclinic hospital, the MRI will become operational in two months in view to upgrading the Radiology Department at Polyclinic with the assistance of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
The polyclinic authorities requested the committee to pass orders to the federal health ministry for the provision of computed tomography (CT) scan machine operators.
Meanwhile, the officials of the ministry of health briefed the committee on the shortage of nursing staff and the training and upgrading of the nursing project.
They said the total number of PhDs in nursing in the country was 12. Nurses will be invited from other countries for conducting nursing courses in public colleges. An amount of Rs500 million has been allocated for this project, they said.
The committee while approving the plan to improve the nursing system, sought further details.
Earlier, a detailed discussion was held regarding the scrutiny of the Public Sector Development Program (PSDP) proposed by the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations, and Coordination for the next financial year 2023-2024.
The committee was briefed in detail on the status of various projects under PSDP, including cost, duration, throw forward, and projected demand.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 1st, 2023.
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