Industrial workers offered mobile health service

Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif on Monday inaugurated a mobile health programme comprising 65 units to provide medical services to industrial workers and their families at their workplaces and doorsteps.

The initiative will initially cover Lahore, Kasur and Sheikhupura, benefiting more than 4.6 million industrial workers and their family members.

The government aims to extend the programme to Gujranwala, Sialkot, Gujrat, Faisalabad, Sargodha, Sahiwal, Multan, Muzaffargarh, Dera Ghazi Khan, Bahawalpur, Rahim Yar Khan and Rawalpindi by March, according to a statement.

The programme includes 10 mobile hospitals, five clinics, dental and cardiac units, 40 motorcycles and 10 scooters.

The motorcycle and scooter teams will provide basic medical assistance, first aid, essential medicines and health awareness services.

The mobile hospitals will be equipped with outpatient departments, diagnostic facilities, X-ray and ultrasound services, basic laboratories and medical staff, including male and female doctors, radiologists, nurses and technicians.

The mobile clinics will also offer telemedicine facilities, while the dental units will provide examination and treatment.

During her visit to the Nawaz Sharif Social Security Hospital, the CM inspected the mobile hospitals, dental unit, motorcycles and scooters, receiving a briefing on the medicines and equipment.

Officials also briefed her on a mobile rheumatic heart disease screening initiative, which will cover 29,845 factories, industrial establishments and other workplaces in Lahore, Sheikhupura and Kasur.

The mobile units will also be deployed to screen around 54,000 children enrolled in workers' welfare schools across Punjab for heart conditions.

The field operations of all mobile health units will be connected to a digital hub at the Punjab Employees Social Security Institution (PESSI) headquarters to enable real-time monitoring of their routes and activities.

The chief minister said on the occasion that the province's 24 social security hospitals were providing treatment and medicines to over 10 million industrial workers and their families. The mobile health programme would facilitate early diagnosis and treatment, reducing the burden on hospitals, she added.