Healthy population termed key to prosperity

Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif has termed a healthy population the backbone of a prosperous society.

“It is very important for every individual to understand the importance of health. A person’s health is not just his personal matter but it affects the entire family,” she stated in her message on the World Health Day.

“We want to ensure equal access to health facilities by every citizen,” she added.

“There is also a need to promote awareness about healthy lifestyle along with the provision of treatment facilities,” she stressed, advising people to eat nutritious diet.

She said the Punjab government was providing resources worth billions of rupees for the improvement of public health facilities.

An air ambulance service will be started and Punjab’s first public sector Muhammad Nawaz Sharif Cancer Hospital will be built in Lahore, she announced.

She added that a Nawaz Sharif Cardiology Hospital is also being built in Sargodha.

She said the supply of free medicines in government hospitals has started and their free delivery at patients’ doorsteps will also start soon.

Upgradation of 2,500 basic health units (BHUs) and 300 rural health centers (RHCs) has been initiated, while 32 field hospitals will also be set up to provide health facilities in remote areas.

A programme to establish 200 ‘clinics on wheels’ has been launched for the provision of treatment facilities to slum dwellers in the province, the chief minister stated.

She vowed to fulfil the goal of building three medical cities in South, central and north Punjab.

Meanwhile, on the direction of Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, the government has provided Rs6.8 million for the treatment of 2-year-old Muhammad Moaz of Sialkot. Provincial Local Government Minister Zeeshan Rafique visited the home of the child who is suffering from a genetic disease.

His treatment is under way in the Children Hospital.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 8^th, 2024.