Groundbreaking ceremony for Mother and Child Hospital at Bhara Kahu held

ISLAMABAD, Apr 8 (APP):A groundbreaking ceremony for federal capital’s first of its kind state-of-the-art 40-bed Mother and Child Hospital was held here at Bhara Kahu on Monday, that is expected to open by December 31, 2019.
The health facility located at major area of federal capital will ensure provision of medical services to surrounding areas.
The hospital will provide 24 hours gynae and obstetrics services to over 100,000 population of the area directly and 500,000 population from other areas indirectly.
The construction work on the project has been initiated by Pak PWD. The hospital will have facilities including an emergency department, physician offices, various specialty inpatients services, image and lab services and complete medical and surgical capabilities.
Mother and Child Hospital was a demand of the inhabitants of the rural areas of Islamabad to lessen the ever increasing load of patients on the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) and Federal Government Poly Clinic Hospital in the urban area, Minister for National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination Aamer Mehmood Kiani said addressing the groundbreaking ceremony.
“We recognize the role of mothers in building a healthy nation. Mother and child are therefore on the top of our agenda in health as the first 1000 days in a child’s life are of critical importance.”
The minister said “Our mission is to provide best facilities to mother and child. It is in this context that a mother and child hospital is being established by the Ministry of National Health Services in Bhara Kahu.”
He said “We have the support of SAARC through SAARC Development Fund in undertaking this project. We will make Islamabad a model city in health so that the same could be replicated in other parts of the country.” 
He said that the government had recently established a model center for Infectious Diseases in the federal capital with free screening, diagnostic and treatment facilities for people.
He said to cater to the needs of the residents of the federal capital, work on a General Hospital in Tarlai had been initiated.
He said to improve monitoring and planning, a District Health Information System had been established in the federal capital.
Kiani said a major initiative was being undertaken to establish new Basic Health Units and upgrade existing ones in Islamabad.
He added use of information technology was being undertaken to provide ambulance service and for bed registry in Islamabad.
The Minister reiterated commitment of the government to achieving Universal Health Coverage.
He expressed gratitude to the World Health Organization (WHO) and other partner agencies for their continued support.