Free diagnostic, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, surgical and medical facilities would be provided to cancer patients.
Advisor to Chief Minister of Health Khawaja Salman Rafique. PHOTO: ZAHOORUL HAQ
LAHORE:
After the provincial cabinet, the board of directors of the Punjab Health Initiative Management Company (PHIMC) approved the implementation of the chief minister’s special initiatives for cancer patients, stroke management and cardiac surgery.
Chairing a board meeting, Punjab Minister Khawaja Salman Rafique said free diagnostic, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, surgical and medical facilities would be provided to cancer patients at an annual cost of Rs 13 billion. Free treatment facilities worth over Rs 1.2 billion will be provided to stroke patients every year. Under the Chief Minister’s Adult Cardiac Surgery Scheme, free treatment facilities worth Rs 3 billion per year will be provided to patients.
Under the Chief Minister’s Children’s Heart Surgery Scheme, at least 9,648 children have undergone free heart surgeries across the province so far, at a cost of billions of rupees, including 391 from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, 234 from Azad Kashmir, 101 from Islamabad, 28 from Balochistan, 31 from Gilgit-Baltistan and 25 from Sindh.
Under another program, 1,151 organ transplants were performed free of charge, including 613 kidney, 315 cochlear, 185 liver, 16 bone marrow and 22 cornea transplants.
The provincial secretary concerned said that instructions have been given to resolve the problems faced by patients in approved hospitals.
According to official data, more than 700 patients across Punjab have recovered after suffering a stroke in the past year. The program ensures free provision of the life-saving TNK injection, which costs around Rs 300,000 per dose.
The free injections are administered at 14 stroke centers across the province. The centers were established at Services Hospital, General Hospital and Mayo Hospital in Lahore, Nishtar Hospital in Multan and Sheikh Zayed Hospital in Rahim Yar Khan.
Stroke management centers have also been established in Rawalpindi, Sialkot, Gujranwala, Narowal, Dera Ghazi Khan and Layyah, while directions have been issued to expand the program to other districts.
