LAHORE, Feb 11 (APP): Punjab Health Minister Khawaja Salman Rafique has said that the Chief Minister’s Children’s Heart Surgery Program has emerged as a landmark initiative to save the precious lives of innocent children suffering from congenital heart diseases.
He stated that more than 10,000 children have so far undergone completely free heart surgeries under the program, with the Punjab government spending billions of rupees to ensure life-saving treatment for deserving families.
The minister was chairing a meeting at the Punjab Health Initiative Management Company (PHIMC) on Wednesday to review progress on the Chief Minister’s Children’s Heart Surgery Program. During the meeting, officials gave a detailed briefing on the program’s performance, facilities being provided to patients, monitoring mechanisms, service delivery standards, and future targets.
Khawaja Salman Rafique said that Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif has laid special emphasis on maintaining transparency, improving service quality, and strengthening monitoring systems to ensure maximum convenience for patients and their families. He directed the concerned departments and empaneled hospitals to further enhance the quality of treatment, minimize waiting lists, and provide comprehensive guidance to parents.
Terming the successful completion of over 10,000 free surgeries a major achievement, the minister said the scope of the program is being expanded further so that no child remains deprived of treatment. He added that modern reforms are being introduced in the health sector under the leadership of the Chief Minister, and the Punjab government is fully committed to providing the best possible, quality, and free healthcare services to the public.
Highlighting the program’s outreach beyond Punjab, he informed that 425 children from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 250 from Azad Kashmir, 107 from Islamabad, 28 from Balochistan, 34 from Gilgit-Baltistan, and 27 from Sindh have also been treated free of cost. “We want the maximum number of common citizens to benefit from all new health initiatives,” he said.
Secretary Specialized Healthcare and Medical Education Azmat Mahmud assured that all necessary measures would be taken for further improvement in the health sector. He directed that patients in empaneled hospitals be provided maximum facilities and that their complaints be resolved on a priority basis.
The meeting was attended by Chairman Punjab Chief Minister Advisory Committee on Cardiology Dr. Farqad Alamgir, Vice Chancellor University of Child Health Sciences Prof. Masood Sadiq, Additional Secretary Procurement Ameera Bedar, CEO PHIMC Dr. Ali Razaq, and other senior officials.