Lahore (HRNW)– Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif has announced a historic initiative for cancer and heart disease patients in the province and has decided to introduce the Chief Minister Special Initiative for Cancer Patient Card and Cardiac Surgery Card. Under this initiative, the Punjab government will pay the entire cost of expensive treatment of patients.
During a briefing held at the Chief Minister’s Office, it was informed that every patient, without fear of expensive treatment for cancer and heart diseases, will be able to get free treatment of up to Rs 1 million through the CM Special Initiative Card.
According to officials, 45,000 patients of Punjab will directly benefit from this new program in the first phase.
Briefing the Chief Minister on Special Health Programs
In the meeting, the Secretary Specialized Healthcare and Medical Education, while giving a detailed briefing to the Chief Minister, said:
The OPD block of Nawaz Sharif Institute Cancer Treatment and Research will be activated by January 17.
The deadline for making Nawaz Sharif Institute of Cardiology Sargodha fully functional was set for January 31.
Approval has been given for recruitment to 219 posts in the first phase of the Institute of Cancer Treatment and Research.
The departments of IPD, Emergency, Pathology and Radiology in the Institute of Cardiology Sargodha will be made functional by January 31, while 258 posts have been created in the first phase.
Jinnah Institute of Cardiology in Lahore will become fully functional from February 15, for which the board has approved 1104 posts.
Performance of government hospitals—key statistics presented
Figures related to the performance of major government hospitals in Punjab were also presented in the briefing:
25 million patients were treated in OPDs of 57 major hospitals in Punjab, while 16.2 million patients were treated in emergencies.
Medicines worth Rs 19.9 billion were provided to government hospitals.
Medicines worth Rs 480 million were delivered to 537,000 patients under the Chief Minister Medicine Home Delivery Program.
In 11 months, 744,000 surgeries, 475,000 CT scans, and 150,000 MRI scans were performed.
157,000 angiographies and 157,000 echocardiographies were performed to diagnose heart diseases.
More than 1.2 million ultrasounds and more than 1.8 million X-rays were performed in hospitals.
Laboratory tests (pathology diagnostic facilities) were provided to more than 15 million patients.
Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif also immediately called for the planning of a comprehensive program for the timely treatment of stroke.
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