LAHORE: The Health Reforms Roadmap was reviewed in a meeting here on Thursday where Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif said he was satisfied with the progress.

Mr Sharif said the reforms were producing positive results and the roadmap had helped improve health facilities being provided to the people and measures included the more coverage of the immunisation campaign. He directed the authorities to further the vaccination programme in a coordinated manner.

Mr Sharif said a programme had been made to launch the rural ambulance service and 14 more mobile health units were being bought to provide health services to the people at their doorsteps. He said six mobile health units were already providing health facilities in the remote areas.

He said the Punjab government had launched a project to control hepatitis, under which a hepatitis control clinic would be inaugurated in Lahore in March and the clinic would be linked to nine divisions through satellite. He said the hepatitis control bill would be presented in the assembly for its passage soon. He said the government had made a foolproof system for the purchase, transportation and sale and through the system the people would get standardized medicines and misappropriation in the medicines would be eliminated.

He said the samples of medicines would be tested from renowned laboratories abroad and that the first warehouse of medicines would be established in Lahore.

He said steps were being taken to end the shortage of medical officers and consultants and CT scan machines would be operational in all district headquarters by June. He said the companies providing the machines would be responsible for operating and looking after these CT scan machines.

He said through the initiative the people would get CT scan facility round the clock. He said the services of the allied health professionals would be hired and 19 non-clinical services in hospital, including cleanliness, were being outsourced.

Special representative of DFID Sir Michal Barbar said the Punjab government was introducing revolutionary steps in the health sector.

Published in Dawn, February 24th, 2017