QUETTA, June 15: Provincial Health Minister Hafiz Hamadullah has said that a medical board will be constituted in every district of Balochistan to monitor the working of private hospitals. He said at a press conference that a meeting of the Balochistan Private Hospitals Regulatory Board held on June 10 had taken decisions about monitoring the functioning of private hospitals in the province.

Mr Hamadullah said the details of facilities provided at private hospitals were being collected and the health department following receipt of the information would finalize rules for the hospitals.

He said that no private hospital could be opened without prior permission of the district board and an inspection team had been formed to check the standard of the hospitals and facilities they provided.

The minister said that the meeting also decided to fix registration fee for private hospitals in Quetta and other district headquarters of Balochistan. The fee would be recovered on two-year basis and

renewal charges after each two years.

He said that those doctors who practiced in private hospitals would also come under the purview of the Balochistan Private Hospitals Regulatory Act 2004.

He said that the health department would categorize the hospitals according to facilities they provided and on the same pattern fees of doctors and service charges would also be fixed.

BUDGET: Balochistan’s budget for the financial year of 2005-06 would be presented on June 22, said an official statement issued on Monday.