2015-16 allocations: Upgrade of THQ, DHQ hospitals a priority, says Rafique

Nine centres of excellence to be set up in province.

LAHORE:

Nine centres of excellence will be set up in various cities during the next year to improve healthcare, Adviser to Chief Minister on Health Khawaja Salman Rafique said on Sunday.

“The completion of the ongoing development schemes and upgrade of district headquarters (DHQ) and tehsil headquarters (THQ) hospitals is the top priority of the government. In the next fiscal year, Rs3 billion is being allocated to complete the Pakistan Kidney and Liver Transplant and Research Institute, Lahore. The chief minister has allocated 50 acres of land for the project on Bedian Road,” he said. Rafique said that Rs300 million had been provided for hiring a consultancy firm during the current fiscal year for the project.



“The government has enhanced health budget from Rs121 billion to 166 billion. This is a historic step. It will improve the healthcare system,” he said. He said that labour rooms would be made operational at 700 basic health units (BHUs) within a month.

“Mobile health units are being purchased for providing medical facilities to the people living in remote areas. Rs1 billion is being allocated in the budget for the project,” he said.

He said that during the next fiscal year, the government would complete an institute of urology and transplant at Rawalpindi, kidney centres at Multan and Bahawalpur, upgrade Multan Institute of Cardiology, establish children’s hospitals at Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Rawalpindi and Bahawalpur, set up the Institute of Pediatric Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery at Children Hospital, Lahore, and upgrade nursing schools to college level and nursing colleges to centre of excellence.

“An emergency department at the newly-built Institute of Neuro Sciences at Lahore General Hospital (LGH) has been made functional. Rs290 million is being provided for making the institution fully operational. Rs60 million has been allocated for the establishment of a central research lab at Postgraduate Medical Institute (PGMI) Lahore. Moreover, Rs50 million will be provided for the construction of roads within the LGH,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 15^th, 2015.