PESHAWAR, Jan 28: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government is considering establishing two more hospitals in Peshawar to reducing massive patient influx into Lady Reading Hospital, said Khyber Pakhtunkhwa health minister Zahir Shah on Saturday.

Of them, one will be established on Ring Road and second on Kohat Road, the health minister told members of the Chemists and Druggists Association of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and chief executives of Peshawar-based pharmaceutical companies at Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

The minister said around 8,000 patients visited Lady Reading Hospital’s outdoor patient department daily and therefore, the proposal of the establishment of two more hospitals in the provincial capital for easing patient burden was under consideration.

He said hospitals would also be established at divisional headquarters level to reduce patient influx into Peshawar’s hospitals.

Mr Zahir said the government had resolved the issue of shortage of trained medical staff in provincial health facilities by employing 530 doctors on ad hoc basis and induction of 300 medical specialists.

He said an official committee would be set up for resolving the chemists and druggists association’s grievances about establishment of pharmacies/drugstores in the government-owned hospitals in the province. He said the issue would be resolved through dialogue.

The minister also said the companies producing substandard medicines in the province would be dealt with strictly to prevent a Lahore-like situation in which spurious drugs killed more than 100 heart patients. He said pharmaceutical units producing substandard drugs should be identified for action.

“The key to all problems is in an end to corruption,” he said, seeking the businessmen’s cooperation to the government to block Lahore-like tragedies.

Earlier, SCCI president Afan Aziz drew the minister’s attention towards Lahore deaths and demanded a countrywide crackdown on units manufacturing drugs of poor quality.

“Action against such companies is indispensable,” he said, adding that a comprehensive strategy should be put in place to transfer the drug regulatory role to the provinces and that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa should be given representation in the drug quality control board.