GUJRAT: PML-Q MNA Chaudhry Moonis Elahi has donated seven ventilators to the Aziz Bhatti Shaheed Teaching Hospital (ABSTH) while some other local philanthropists donated six ventilators to the hospital, taking the number of essential machines in the health facility to 29.

The philanthropists who have donated ventilators are Mian Muhammad Ijaz, Chaudhry Ijaz Ahmed Warraich, Imtiaz Kausar and Nadeem Malhi.

The ventilators have been handed over to Deputy Commissioner Dr Khurram Shahzad in presence of ABSTH Medical Superintendent Dr Abid Ghauri and district health authority chief executive officer Dr Zahid Tanveer on Friday.

Each ventilator cost Rs1.7m and the total cost of the latest medical equipment was Rs22m.

On March 21, Moonis Elahi had visited the quarantine centre established in the academic block of the Nawaz Sharif Medical College as well as the ABSTH and inspected the facilities there.

The local administration and hospital management had briefed the PML-Q leader about the immediate requirements of the hospital for better service delivery during the pandemic and he had pledged to take practical steps in this regard.

The donation of ventilators has been made in the wake of the requirements for the rising number of coronavirus patients in Gujrat district that had earlier 16 ventilators in the public and 10 in private sector health facilities.

Talking on the occasion of ceremony, the Gujrat DC said addition of the latest ventilators had enhanced the capacity of the teaching hospital not only for the Covid-19 outbreak but for the future as well. He commended the efforts of Moonis Elahi and other philanthropists for taking interest in provision of the basic health facilities in the government teaching hospital.

Meanwhile, the DC chaired a meeting of the officers of local bodies of Gujrat where a plan was devised for launching a disinfection drive across the district.

The meeting decided to complete the drive in various parts of Gujrat within a week for which teams, comprising the officials of the local bodies and Rescue 1122, had been constituted.

Published in Dawn, April 4th, 2020