ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday said the government is determined to provide free healthcare facilities to deserving patients across Pakistan.
The prime minister addressing a groundbreaking ceremony of Jinnah Medical Complex, said the Complex was going to be the region’s one of the best medical facilities where the deserving people would get 100 percent free medical treatment.
“This is the gift of the coalition government not only for the residents of Rawalpindi and Islamabad but for the people from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Azad Jammu & Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan as well,” PM Shehbaz Sharif said.
He said when completed, the medical complex would provide the world’s best healthcare services with various sections of diseases related to heart, lungs, cancer, kidneys and others. Furthermore, he added a modern first aid emergency section would also be set up at the hospital with a facility of air ambulance for patients belonging to inaccessible areas.
He said the nursing schools and laboratories would also be set up in the hospital and the deserving patients would avail 100 percent lab tests facility.
The prime minister stressed that this was the same model envisioned by PML-N President Muhammad Nawaz Sharif to provide free medical care only to the poor and on-payment facilities to the well-off people at the same place.
He thanked Chairman HBL Sultan Ali Allana and Prince Rahim Agha Khan for providing technical consultancy support free of cost for the medical project. He paid tribute to the decades-long services of the Agha Khan Foundation for Pakistan.
He directed the concerned authorities to complete the project in one year. “Although one year is a challenging deadline for the huge project with determination and hard work, it was quite possible,” noted the PM. He also issued directives to continue work on the project round the clock to meet the deadline. He assured that there would be no financing problems from the government side.
The prime minister ordered to provide one window facility to the affected people to resolve their issues without any delay.
Health Coordinator Dr Mukhtar Ahmed, MNAs Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry, Hanif Abbasi and Raja Khurrum Nawaz also spoke on the occasion.
