LAHORE, Nov 24 (APP): Punjab Health Minister Dr. Yasmin Rashid directed an increase in the number of healthcare services provided through Mobile Health Units, at a meeting at the Committee Room of the Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department here on Tuesday.
Present in the meeting were Secretary Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department Captain (retd) Usman Younis, Additional Secretary Development Omar Farooq, MD Punjab Health Facilities Management Company (PHFMC) Arshad Usmani, Ahmer Khan and other officials.
The minister reviewed the performance of the PHFMC, presented by its MD Arshad Usmani. The minister said the officials of the PHFMC were being given an opportunity to showcase their performance. She said all Mobile Health Units must be fully functional.
The Health Minister said, “The Mobile Health Units must visit far and distant areas in Punjab. The PHFMC must present a balance sheet of all expenses incurred and a complete audit of the accounts shall be initiated. The hiring on the vacant positions of PHFMC must be started immediately on merit”.
The company was providing services in specified districts and the government was working to improve its performance further.
The performance of the PHFMC management team in each district shall be reviewed in detail very soon. The patient referral system shall be used through PHFMC as well as Mobile Health Units.
Complete statistics of people utilizing Mobile Health Services must be submitted in detail, she added.
The minister said that Mobile Health Units should be used for a number of purposes including routine EPI and Polio vaccination services as well as sample collection for COVID-19. She said Mobile Health Units should be very effective in increasing immunization coverage in far flung areas and they must be used to maximum advantage.
Secretary Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department Captain (Retd) Usman Younis said that the performance review of PHFMC would be undertaken on a monthly basis and all-out efforts should be made to ensure merit-based hiring in the Company.
