ISLAMABAD: Health Minister Mustafa Kamal on Tuesday chaired a meeting at Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) to review fire safety measures at government hospitals, the cooling system at Pims and steps to reduce the patient burden on the country’s premier public sector hospital.

It is worth mentioning that before the recent incident in which 14 newborn babies died due to a fire, Pims had no refusal policy due to which unlimited patients were referred to the hospital from Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan. However, after the incident a term “patient management” has come under discussion by the management.

Heads of public hospitals, Additional Secretary Health, Joint Secretary, Director General Health and District Health Officer Islamabad attended the meeting. The meeting reviewed progress on fire safety audits of government hospitals and the measures being taken to address safety concerns following the recent fire incident at Pims.

The minister also reviewed the Heat, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) system at Pims and directed that the cooling system at the Children’s Hospital be ensured on an emergency basis. He directed the relevant authorities to ensure that the HVAC system was fully functional, particularly in areas dealing with children and other vulnerable patients.

Mr Kamal said a telemedicine centre would be established at Pims to help reduce the burden of patients on the hospital. He also directed the chief information officer of the health card programme to launch an awareness campaign about the Prime Minister’s Health Card so that eligible patients could avail themselves of treatment facilities at panel hospitals instead of relying solely on Pims.

The minister said free and quality healthcare services were available to citizens at 15 hospitals in Islamabad included in the Prime Minister’s Health Card panel. He said residents of Islamabad, Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan could avail themselves of free treatment at the panel hospitals under the health card programme.

The minister directed the authorities to undertake a comprehensive awareness campaign to inform citizens about the 15 panel hospitals and the free treatment facilities available to eligible beneficiaries. He said greater utilisation of these facilities would help reduce the pressure on Pims and improve access to healthcare for patients.

Later, the health minister visited different sections of the new emergency department and inspected the facilities. He directed the hospital administration to make the new emergency department operational on an emergency basis, stressing that its early functioning was necessary to improve patient care and ease pressure on existing emergency services.

Published in Dawn, September 2nd, 2026