LAHORE, March 9: Punjab health minister Prof Mahmood Ahmad Chaudhry has directed the health department to establish a separate cell at secretariat to register and solve problems of doctors serving in peripheries.

He was speaking at the concluding ceremony of master trainers course at the Provincial Health Development Centre (PHDC) on Saturday.

The master trainers were trained about medical code of ethics, service rules, audit, nature of work and Extended Programme of Immunization. The master trainers will be required to train the doctors, who are being appointed at respective basic health units (BHUs) on five-year contract.

The minister said the process to recruit doctors at respective BHUs all over the province was in progress. In order to ensure doctors’ presence at every village, he said the provincial government had given a lucrative package of Rs12,000 per month salary and free accommodation despite resource constraints.

He said the doctors at BHUs would also be permitted to do private practice in the evening.

The minister said the government was also upgrading and modernizing tehsil headquarters hospitals as a part of strengthening the rural health delivery system. He said specialist doctors would also be appointed

He also asked the health department officials to solve young doctors problems and encourage them to work in peripheries.

Earlier, PHDC directed Arshad Usmani briefed the minister about aims and objectives of the centre.

The minister distributed certificates among the master trainers. Punjab health secretary Hasan Waseem Afzal, health services director-general Dr Yaqub Jaffar and other officials were also present on the occasion.

Later, the minister visited the Chemical Examiner’s Laboratory and directed the officials to improve their working.