LAHORE: The Population and Health Department has decided to establish 13 new Oxygen feeders to support 145 district and tehsil headquarters (DHQs and THQs) hospitals of Punjab, enabling them to receive over 44,000 oxygen cylinders per month, thus enhancing the emergency and critical care capacity of these facilities.
The decision came at a high-level meeting held here on Wednesday.
The department also introduced a robust and centralised monitoring system to ensure transparent and timely execution of health-related development projects across the province.
Under the new mechanism, all health sector initiatives will be monitored and evaluated through the department’s Monitoring and Evaluation Directorate, which will track project implementation, assess performance and ensure their alignment with provincial health priorities.
Monitoring and Evaluation Directorate to ensure transparency in health projects
The meeting was attended by Chief Secretary Zahid Akhtar Zaman, Health Minister Khawaja Imran Nazeer, Planning and Development Board Chairman Naeem Rauf, Health and Population Secretary Nadia Saqib, and other senior officials.
On the occasion, Mr Imran Nazir directed all vertical programmes’ heads to submit detailed annual performance reports, saying that as per chief minister’s instructions, routine and rigorous evaluations would be conducted to assess their progress and impact.
“Providing quality healthcare at the doorstep of every citizen is Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif’s foremost priority,” the minister said, adding that the revamp of more than 4,000 health facilities is underway.
The chief secretary stressed the importance of effective monitoring mechanisms to ensure the timely completion and quality delivery of health projects.
He reiterated that reform efforts in the healthcare system are ongoing and that the Monitoring and Evaluation Directorate would be further strengthened for improved oversight.
He also issued directives for the verification of household registration data under the Community Health Inspector Programme, calling for greater data integrity and on-ground accountability.
The meeting reviewed progress on several flagship initiatives of the Punjab government, including Maryam Nawaz Health Clinics, Community Health Inspector Programme, establishment of blood transfusion centres in Lahore, Okara, Muzaffargarh, and Jhelum and setting up of Cath labs at Attock, Jhang, Jhelum, Layyah, Mianwali, Kasur, Vehari, and Bahawalnagar.
The officials briefed the meeting that the Community Health Inspector Programme is being implemented in two phases, with the geo-tagging of over 530,000 households already completed in the first phase.
Published in Dawn, July 31st, 2025
