PESHAWAR, June 20: NWFP Health Minister Inayatullah has claimed that allocation of Rs 2.475 billion in the current year’s budget will improve the health care in the province.

Speaking at a news conference on Tuesday he said Rs100 million had been set aside for new posts and completion of under-construction hospitals.

An amount of Rs160 million, almost double the amount spent under this head last year, had been earmarked to provide free treatment to critically-ill patients, he said. The government had also sanctioned service structure for about 9,000 paramedics and had planned creation of 1,400 posts of nurses during the year 2006-7, he added.

He said that new posts of 750 female technicians would be created this year, whereas the retired government servants would be able to get their money reimbursed which they spent on the treatment of five chronic ailments.

He said that 139 schemes had been made part of the annual development programme of the province this year, of which 53 schemes would be completed this year.

These schemes, he said, included upgradation of the hospitals at the tehsil as well as district level.

The minister said that a record seven projects of the province had been included Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) of the federal government. These projects, he said included establishment of institute of cardiology, district headquarters hospital (DHQ), Nowshera, construction of building for Gomal Medical College and completion of the under- construction Khalifa Gul Nawaz Hospital in Bannu and Mufti Mahmood Teaching Hospital in Dera Ismail Khan. For these projects, the federal government would provide 50 per cent of the total cost, he said. Other measures taken in the budget, he said were construction of hostel for the students of Khyber Medical College and installation of MRI.

The minister said that amount had also been allocated to build additional wards at the Lady Reading Hospital and provide free meal to the patients there.