ISLAMABAD: Minister for National Health Services (NHS) Aamer Mehmood Kiani on Saturday said work on the establishment of four new hospitals in the federal capital would be started in one and a half months.

“The previous government established buses and trains but we will invest on the people as it is their right to get basic healthcare facilities,” the minister said while visiting different hospitals in the city.

“We have decided to establish four big hospitals around the city after which the burden would be reduced on the main hospitals. We will start construction of the hospitals within one and a half months,” he said.

With the addition of these hospitals, patient load on Polyclinic and Pims will reduce, minister says

However, it is not a tall claim made only by the current government. In 2016 after criticism by the opposition parties that the PML-N government was giving priority to projects such as metro buses and motorways, the then government announced to establish 46 hospitals across the country.

It was also announced that three hospitals would be set up in the federal capital to lessen the burden on the Federal Government Services Hospital (Polyclinic) and the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims).

The three hospitals would also cater to patients from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, AJK and Gilgit-Baltistan.

Though it was announced that the construction of the hospitals would be completed before the end of the PML-N government’s tenure, work on not a single hospital was started.

An official of the Ministry of NHS said a number of times similar claims had been made by the governments of the PML-N, PPP and Pervez Musharraf.

“Not a single tertiary care hospital has been constructed in the federal capital since 1980s. On the other hand, the population of the city has increased by manifold. Now the PTI ministers are also making similar claims but funds have not been allocated for such projects,” he said.

“I suggest that the government should allocate funds rather than making announcements for the setting up of hospitals. Though Prime Minister Imran Khan had said in his first speech to the nation that he would take care of the health of the children of Pakistan, it is a fact that most important parts of the health sector such as vaccination and immunisation are being run by foreign donors rather than funding by the government,” he said.

According to an official statement, the minister said the four new hospitals would be established in the capital soon.

He visited the National Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine (NIRM) on the direction of the prime minister to ensure provision of quality healthcare facilities to persons with disabilities.

The minister also claimed that the government would upgrade the NIRM with more facilities.

“Islamabad will be made a model health city with all required facilities so that provinces may get a lesson from it and ensure such facilities in their jurisdictions,” he said.

Mr Kiani also said the government would increase allocations for the health sector. Moreover, it has been decided to give health cards to 60pc deserving people of Pakistan by next year, he said.

Published in Dawn, October 7th, 2018