PAES being extended to six more cities: chief minister

LAHORE: After the successful launch of Punjab Ambulance and Emergency Service (PAES), Rescue 1122, in Lahore, the project will be extended to Rawalpindi, Multan, Faisalabad, Sargodha, Bahawalpur and Dera Ghazi Khan, said Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi while presiding over a meeting to review health and livestock development projects, at the Planning and Development Department on Wednesday.

Punjab Health Minister Dr Tahir Ali Javed; Punjab Livestock Minister Haroon Sultan; Punjab Chief Secretary Kamran Rasool; Planning and Development Chairman Salman Ghani; Health Secretary Sohail Ahmad; Dr Rizwan Nasir, the project director for Punjab Ambulance and Emergency Service, Zil-e-Huma, parliamentary secretary for planning and development and other officials attended the meeting.

The chief minister said the government was making an effort to provide modern health facilities in the province and the Punjab Health Sector Reforms Programme was successful. He said the Multan Institute of Cardiology would start operating by April this year and in the first phase, it would treat outdoor patients only. He said the government would hire foreign cardiologist to benefit people and a separate ward for child heart patients would be set up in the new hospital.

Mr Elahi said a separate research, analysis and planning wing had been formed to improve the health department and review the administrative capabilities of the health sector to make it more effective. He said free medical examination facility was being provided for children at schools to keep them healthy and to improve their academic performance through better physical and mental health.

The chief minister said that apart from upgrading tehsil and district headquarters hospitals, the facilities in the rural and basic health units in remote areas would be improved.

He said the government was taking steps to promote livestock and a loan scheme for buying cattle had been initiated, by which Rs 500 million had been lent to people. He said that a mobile animal health service had been introduced for the first time. He said an effective monitoring system had also been evolved to implement the mobile health service and various schemes to promote the livestock sector. app

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