LAHORE - Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday presided over a meeting on health-related projects.
At the meeting, a report on chickenpox outbreak in Faisalabad was presented to the chief minister. Sharif said that chickenpox was a chronic disease and it was tragic that authorities were unaware of outbreak of the disease. Concerned institutions ought to have taken quick action once the disease was reported, he said.
The chief minister directed the chief secretary to submit a report after finding out those responsible for this negligence and devise a strategy to control such ailments. He said the successful anti-dengue model could be used to combat other diseases.
Sharif also approved establishment of Gastrointestinal Teaching Units and Hepatitis Clinics at autonomous medical institutions of the province. He said the Punjab government had taken result-oriented steps for improvement of the health sector. He said, “We are providing people basic health facilities and the health sector has been allocated the biggest budget in the history of the province.” He said that 40 tehsil and district headquarters hospitals of Punjab had been equipped with the latest medical facilities and reforms would be introduced in 85 more hospitals in the second phase. He said the Hepatitis Control Programme had to be taken forward and precautionary measures were also critical to control the spread of this disease. He directed the officials concerned to come up with a comprehensive prevention plan by next week and prepare a public awareness campaign. He said that a central hepatitis filter clinic in Lahore was providing medical treatment to patients and such clinics would be set up in other districts as well.
The chief minister said that paramedical staff was the spine of medical care therefore training programmes should be planned for them. He said that Turkish expertise should be used for this purpose. He said that improvement of training institutions and refresher courses according to latest trends were need of the hour. He said that a reward/punishment system should also be made part of the health care system. He said that people showing good performance would be encouraged and those showing poor performance would be held accountable. He said that committees should be established at division and district levels to address complaints and make the system more transparent. He said that Rescue 1122 should be made part of the healthcare system.
Directing the officials to set up a committee under the Provincial Minister for Primary and Secondary Medical Care, Sharif said that cardiac units in different cities of the province should be set up soon. Provincial ministers Khawaja Salman Rafique, Khawaja Imran Nazir, Adviser Dr Umar Saif, chief secretary, planning and development chairman, secretaries of health and finance departments, health experts and other officials attended the meeting. Faisalabad Division commissioner and deputy commissioner participated in the meeting via video link.
VISIT to BHIKKI POWER PLANT
Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif paid a surprise visit to Bhikki Gas Power Plant on Sunday.
Engineers and experts of General Electric and Chinese company briefed him about the technical reasons due to which turbines were shut down. Later, the chief minister inspected different parts and gas turbines of the plant.
During the briefing, Shehbaz was informed that a technical fault in the first plant would be fixed Sunday night and electricity supply from the plant would be restored.
Speaking on the occasion, the chief minister said that technical issues of gas turbines at the Bhikhi Power Plant were being fixed on an emergency basis.
Energy Secretary and Chief Executive Officer Ahad Khan Cheema also accompanied the chief minister to the power plant.
MEETING WITH PUBLIC REPS
Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Sunday “we are serving the public devotedly and have taken forward the agenda of progress over the last four years”. He said that some elements tried to hinder the journey of progress for their vested interests but people foiled their conspiracies. He expressed these views while talking to elective representatives.
He said that people were aware of negative politics of those who tried to halt the progress by ridiculing development projects. He said that such elements could not deceive the public anymore. “Today, there is politics of hard work, honesty and transparency on one side and negative politics of impeachment, lies and baseless allegations on the other side,” he added.
MESSAGE ON CHILD LABOUR DAY
Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Sunday that child labour was a social and economic issue. He said that elimination of child labour was mission of the Punjab government.
In his message on the International Child Labour Day, Sharif said that child labour was a criminal act and laws had been enacted to eliminate it from Punjab. He said the Punjab government had eliminated child labour at brick kilns, freed 90,000 children and enrolled them in schools. He vowed that child labour would be eliminated from petrol pumps, workshops and hotels as well.
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