ISLAMABAD, Aug 4: Health Minister Mohammad Nasir Khan has said a project costing Rs1,325 million, including Foreign Exchange Component of Rs106 million, for establishment of 400-bed women hospital chest disease centre in Rawalpindi, has been approved.

Replying to a question raised by MNA Fauzia Wahab in the National Assembly here on Friday, the health minister said the construction of the hospital would be completed within a period of three years. Besides, due consideration has also been given to establish a hospital tower at Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, Mr Khan said.

Replying to another question raised by MNA Hakim Qari Gul Rehman, the health minister said a project under which cardiac surgery facility would be established at the Department of Cardiology in Pims had been approved.

This facility would be on the pattern of the Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology, he said.

Replying to a question raised by MNA Bilqees Saif, Mr Khan said Pims, Federal Government Services Hospital, National Institute of Handicapped and National Institute of Health had the facility for disposal of garbage/hospital waste and also had incinerators.

Federal Government Woman Children Hospital being constructed in Rawalpindi will also have an incinerator for the disposal of garbage and hospital waste.

Replying to a question raised by MNA Maulana Abdul Akbar Chitrali, the health minister said his ministry did not receive any report regarding death of any person(s) due to use of spurious drugs during the year 2004-05.

The ministry is vigilant on this issue and market surveillance is regularly being carried out through a well- elaborated regulatory infrastructure, comprising drug inspectors, drug testing laboratories and drug courts, both at the federal and provincial levels.

Beside these regular market surveillance, periodic special campaigns were also launched from time to time to further augment the efforts for eradication of spurious drugs.

A countrywide campaign was launched in 2005 and during the campaign 12,593 drug samples were drawn for test/analysis and only 0.24 per cent were found to be spurious.

Recently a similar campaign against spurious/substandard drugs has been launched by the federal and provincial drug regulatory agencies to further strengthen government’s efforts in this regard, he said.

Replying to a question of MNA Samina Khalid Ghurki, the minister said Rs631.8 million was allocated for women health project during the year 2004-05 while Rs403.6 million had been allocated during the year of 2005-06.

The funds allocated for publicity and awareness of the people under the project during the years 2004-05 and 2005-06 were Rs38.6 million and Rs21.2 million, respectively, he said, adding that the advertisement given in the press and electronic media included general message on women health issues and reproductive health specific message.

The total amount paid to electronic media comes to Rs15.6 million and that to the print media is Rs5 million during the year 2004-05, while Rs7.7 million was paid to electronic and Rs5.3 million to print media during the year 2005-06.

Answering another question of Ms Ghurki, Mr Khan said no human vaccine for Avian Influenza (bird flu) had been imported as there was no vaccine for bird flu.

However, 2,000 packs of Tamiflu capsules have been imported from Switzerland at a cost of US$0.055 million while veterinary Bird Flu vaccine was imported from Holland and Italy at a cost of $0.64 million, the minister said.

Replying to a question raised by MNA Sabir Hussain Awan, the minister said the federal government hospitals were providing free medical treatment and medicines to all poor citizens and deserving patients reporting for treatment to the hospitals. No charges are being levied on the poor and deserving patients, he added.