LAHORE: Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has said that investment of billions of rupees is being made for the provision of modern health facilities.

He said an effective monitoring system was of vital importance for ensuring that the common man fully benefited from the investment in the health sector. He said commitment and hard work was essential for effective implementation of the Health Sector Reforms Programme.

According to a handout issued on Monday, the chief minister said a crackdown on the elements involved in production and sale of spurious medicines should continue vigorously. He directed that the factories producing spurious medicines should be sealed while indiscriminate action taken against their owners.

He was addressing a meeting through video link at the Civil Secretariat here on Monday.

The meeting decided that all provincial ministers, assembly members, chief secretary, provincial secretaries, regional police officers, district coordination officers and district police officers will adopt a rural or basic health centre on the pattern of schools and ensure availability of proper medical care in the facility as well as undertake regular visits there.

The chief minister said the Punjab government was implementing speedily a health reforms programme for improvement of medical facilities in government hospitals and rural and basic health centres that were proving fruitful. He said targets had been fixed for the improvement of public health facilities and effective measures were being taken for their achievement.

He directed that a complete survey of medical equipment of hospitals be conducted and a system be evolved under which the company supplying machinery to hospitals should be responsible for its maintenance.

Week: Adviser to the Chief Minister on Health Khwaja Salman Rafique inaugurated the Mother and Child Health Week at Wahdat Colony Hospital on Monday.

The theme of the Mother and Child Health Week is said to be ‘Prevent Diarrhoea’, an official handout said.

It said during this week 48,000 lady health workers and other staff would carry health messages door to door. Six million children would be given anti-worm tablets besides 800,000 children inoculated vaccine.

Anti-tetanus injections would be given to one million pregnant women. Lady health workers and lady health visitors would organise health education sessions in villages and four million women would benefit from these educational activities. Pregnant women would be advised to use a balance diet during their pregnancy. Moreover, screening of malnourished children would also be carried out during this week.

Published in Dawn, April 28th, 2015

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