Federal Minister of Health Mustafa Kamal underlined the need for Pakistan on Thursday to adopt telemedicine in the context of its health system.
Addressing the media after his visit to the Pims of Islamabad, Kamal said that the treatment of the entire population through traditional health systems is not possible.
He stressed that the lack of basic health units obliges people to rely on large hospitals. Kamal stressed that telemedicine, a global practice, could help provide medical services, including consultations and drugs, directly at the doors of people.
“We have to provide medicines and doctors to people. We cannot treat everyone through hospitals alone. Given the modern world, we have to go to telemedicine,” he said.
He shared that seven operating rooms were built at a cost of Rs 2.1 billion, which will be equipped with advanced installations. While recognizing that things are not ideal, he said that there was room for improvement.
Mustafa Kamal also said that it was not currently planned to give PIM to a public-private partnership. He added that future work on the health card program was underway.
“The health care sector is linked to the well-being of humanity. When people suffer, they go to hospitals. The poor turn to public hospitals, while the rich can afford private care, “he said.
During the visit, patients raised many complaints to the Minister of Health.
A patient said there was a shortage of medicines and hospital beds. Another shared that last month, X -ray films were exhausted and patients were forced to visit private laboratories.
A man said his brother was in a deadly state, but no intensive care bed was available. In response, the executive director of the PIMS, Dr. Rana Imran Sikandar, said that intensive care beds could not be allocated to cancer patients.
Minister Mustafa Kamal ordered hospital authorities to provide patients with patients.
