QUETTA  -  The Board of Balochistan Awami Endowment Fund (BAEF) has approved 512 cases to provide financial assistance to poor patients.

The decision was taken in 20th board meeting of BAEF, held under the chairmanship of Secretary Social Welfare Imran Khan on Tuesday. A total of 532 new cases suffering from various diseases across the province were presented in the meeting, of which 515 were approved for treatment.

The board meeting of the BAEF was held after a period of seven months due to a lack of funds to approve more cases of poor patients.

The aid would be given to poor and needy patients suffering from different chronic diseases under the BAEF initiative to get them treated in the best public and private sector hospi­tals across the country.

As many as 161 patients would be provided treat­ment in Bolan Medical Complex (BMC) Hospital Quetta, 179 people would be treated in Sinar Hospi­tal Quetta, 69 in Agha Khan Hospital Karachi, 21 in Zi­auddin Hospital Karachi, 21 in Liaquat National Hos­pital Karachi, 13 in NIBD Karachi, 8 in Shifa Interna­tional Hospital Islamabad, 20 in Kiran Hospital Kara­chi, 4 in National Medical Centre Karachi (NMC), 2 in Shaukat Khanum Hospi­tal Lahore, 6 in Taba Heart Hospital Karachi, 20 in Gambat Hospital, 2 in Patel Hospital and 1 PKL Hospi­tal Lahore.

Under the BAEF initia­tive, financial assistants has been providing to the poor patients for the treat­ment of open heart surgery, Thalassemia, Cancer, liver and kidney transplants.

All cases had been ap­proved by the medical board on merit basis.

8 INJURED AS PASSENGER COACH HITS SCHOOL VAN

At least seven students and a teacher suffered critical injuries in a road accident occurred in Bale­li area of Quetta on Tues­day, police said. 

They said that a speed­ing passenger coach hit a school van coming from opposite side within the precincts of Khulak PS. 

Resultantly, seven stu­dents and a teacher going home after completion of school hours sustained injuries, of them one crit­ically. They injured, soon after the incident, shifted to the Trauma Centre, Quetta for medical aid. 

“Eight injured have been brought to Trauma Centre,” Managing Direc­tor TC Dr Arbab Kam­ran said, adding that one critically injured student was moved to operation theatre. Every possible medical aid is being pro­vided to the injured, he maintained.