PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has decided to establish liver and bone marrow transplant centres across the province, saying the initiative will ensure the provision of quality healthcare to the residents.

Chief Minister Ali Amin Khan Gandapur directed the finance department to release funds for the centres on a priority basis, according to an official statement issued here on Tuesday.

The decision was made during a meeting of the health department chaired by the chief minister at the CM House here.

The participants included cabinet members Syed Qasim Ali Shah, Muzzamil Aslam and Mashal Yousafzai, chief secretary Nadeem Aslam Chaudhry, administrative secretaries of the departments, and experts from the health sector, including Dr Abdul Wahab Dogar, Dr Taqi, Dr Pervaiz and Dr Mumtaz.

CM orders release of funds for initiative on priority

They discussed the proposed establishment of liver and bone marrow transplant centres and related issues.

The meeting decided that initially, liver transplant centres would be established at the Institute of Kidney Diseases in Peshawar, and later, the centres would be relocated to the Khyber Medical University’s building, work on which is under way.

It also decided about the establishment of the province’s first institute of neurosurgery at the Fountain House in Peshawar.

The chief minister directed authorities to finalise proper plans for setting up those centres and the institute and put them up to him for approval.

He said that those plans should carry all necessary details, from the required manpower to funds to medical equipment to the administrative structure required for the centres.

The chief minister also asked authorities tocome up with viable financial plans to operate those centres on a sustainable basis.

He said that the provincial government was fully committed to providing liver and bone marrow transplant facilities tothe people within the province.

“Once these centres are established, the people of the province will not have to gooutside the province for liver and bone marrow transplants,” he said.

The chief minister also said that authorities should ensure round-the-clock availability of dialysis services to visitors in government hospitals.

He added that necessary steps should be taken to start dialysis services in other government hospitals.

The chief minister said that the health sector was one of the priority areas for his government’s development agenda.

“We will utilise all available resources to provide quality healthcare to the people in the province,” he said.

Published in Dawn, March 27th, 2024