Lahore, February 09, 2022 (PPI-OT): Punjab Health Minister Dr. Yasmin Rashid inaugurated the 40-bedded new Child Emergency Room at Mayo Hospital here on Monday. Present on the occasion were Vice Chancellor King Edward Medical University Professor Khalid Masood Gondal, Chairman Board of Governors Professor Mehmud Shaukat, CEO Mayo Hospital Professor Saqib Saeed, MS Mayo Hospital Dr. Iftikhar Ahmed, Head of Pediatric Unit 1 Professor Dr. Haroon Hamid, Head of Pediatric Unit 2 Dr. Iftikhar Ejaz and staff members. Vice Chancellor King Edward Medical University Professor Khalid Masood Gondal and MS Dr. Iftikhar Ahmed welcomed the Minister. All participants prayed for the success of the Children Emergency Room.

The Health Minister visited Children Emergency Room’s reception counter, triage, fast track OPD block, recess room, HMIS room, 24/7 pharmacy and training room. MS Mayo Hospital Dr. Iftikhar Ahmed apprised the Minister of the facilities provided at Children Emergency Room. The minister also talked to the media after the inauguration.

Dr. Yasmin Rashid said, “We are grateful to the Child Life Foundation for their support for the revamping of the Children Emergency Room. According to the MoU with the Board of Governors, Child Life Foundation is also providing human resource support in the state-of-the-art Child Emergency Unit. As per agreement, Rs. 120 million will be spent on staff salaries, medicines and other expenses. The government acknowledges the contribution of philanthropists for serving the people.

Our philanthropists have always helped the people in time of need and they always donate generously. Children Emergency Room has been declared a Children Hospital. For further improvement, we have started work on PC-1. We will allocate more resources for the Children Emergency Unit in the next ADP. Friends of Mayo are developing a Pediatric Surgery Unit here as well.

Friends of Mayo are rendering exemplary services in the hospital and I pray to Allah Almighty to grant them best rewards. With this commitment and zeal, Inshallah the quality of services at public sector facilities will improve. We are very confident that the 600-bedded Ganga Ram Mother and Child Hospital shall start functioning by May this year.

Seven mother and child hospitals are being developed across Punjab in Rajanpur, Layyah, DG Khan, Attock, Bahawalnagar and Multan and it is extremely important to develop them to save the lives of mothers and children. All of these facilities shall be developed in time. We will complete all mother and child projects in Punjab.

Cardiology hospital in DG Khan shall be functional by June and Nishter-2 Multan shall be operational by October this year. Last government left a colossal debris of concrete. We are completing not only our own projects but also completing those left by the past government.

The distribution of Naya Pakistan Woman Sehat Cards is underway in all divisions of Punjab. So far we have given away cards to 65% population of Punjab. By 31st March, we will distribute Naya Pakistan Qaumi Sehat Cards to all 30 million families of Punjab.” Responding to queries of journalists, the Health Minister said Children Hospital is the largest hospital for children in Asia. The Institute of Child Health Sciences has been transformed into a University of Child Health Sciences.

She said Pakistan was signatory to Sustainable Development Goals on Mother and Child health indicators. The Minister said that upgradation of existing facilities was extremely important and Mayo Hospital was being upgraded according to a Master Plan. The wards of government hospitals were being specifically revamped.

The government is developing new emergencies at General Hospital, Jinnah Hospital and Services Hospital. She added that the government was focusing on improvement and revamping of existing facilities along with developing new ones. Prime Minister Imran Khan has ended the emergency health expense of a family by introduction of Naya Pakistan Qaumi Sehat cards.

People are extremely happy on the initiative of free health insurance. She said strict action has been taken against staff responsible for fake entries. Past governments did not take any action on wrong practices. Only Mayo Hospital had the capacity to treat 400 COVID-19 patients at a time with 100 critically ill patients.

Mass vaccination of people had translated in reduced figures of new infections. She said Population was our biggest problem right now and the federal Government was introducing a large program for population control. Prime Minister Imran Khan always emphasized the need to focus on Mother and Child Health. For a child, nothing was more important than mother’s milk. She added that birth spacing of at least three years always had great impact on the health of a mother.

She said Panadol and Paracetamol were the same and the government was ensuring availability of Panadol at all medical stores of Punjab. Hundreds of millions of Paracetamols and Panadols are available in Punjab. Due to the Corona Pandemic, inflation had hit the entire world yet despite challenging circumstances, Prime Minister Imran deserves to be acknowledged for holding things together.

For more information, contact:
Directorate General Public Relations,
Government of the Punjab
Lahore, Pakistan
Tel: +92-42-9201390-86
Website: www.punjab.gov.pk