LAHO RE (PR) - Punjab Chief Minister Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif has said that Punjab government has started provision of free of cost medicines in hospitals first time in the history of the country and Rs 6.5 billion have been allocated for this purpose in the new budget. He said that in order to provide better healthcare facilities new hospitals would be constructed on BOT basis whereas six mobile hospitals would start functioning in next three months for providing quality healthcare facilities to the people of far-flung and backward areas at their doorstep. This was stated by him during a meeting with a delegation of newly-elected representatives of Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (PPMA) led by its President Mian Asad Shuja-ur-Rehman at Chief Ministers Secretariat, here Tuesday. Provincial Minister Mujtaba Shuja-ur-Rehman and Members Provincial Assembly Dr Saeed Elahi and Dr Farrukh Javed were also present on the occasion. The Chief Minister said that Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers are not only providing medicines to the people of the country but also playing a commendable role in exporting these medicines. He said that Pakistan is a poor country and the prices of medicines should be maintained at a reasonable level in the interest of the common man. He said that Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers should also curb those black sheep in this business as play with the innocent lives by producing spurious drugs. He said that those who are involved in the heinous business of spurious drugs deserve no leniency and their accountability is the joint responsibility of the society. He said that Punjab government is implementing a comprehensive strategy for providing healthcare facilities to the people of the province including provision of free of cost medicines in hospitals. He asked the representatives of the association to give their proposals for ensuring 100 per cent supply of quality medicines in hospitals. He said that it is the responsibility of PPMA to extend all out assistance to the government for the success of this unprecedented welfare project of provision of free of cost medicines to the patients.