LAHORE, March 26: The Punjab health department will soon introduce ‘tele-medicine system’ in the province to provide modern treatment facilities to the people of small cities and far-flung areas.

Health Minister Dr Tahir Ali Javed said that all DHQs would be attached with the teaching hospitals to facilitate patients’ examination by consultants or specialists through computer. Similarly, people could also seek doctors advice by phone.

The minister was speaking after a walk organized from the Director-General, Health Services, Punjab, offices to the Assembly Hall to create awareness on tuberculosis.

Dr Javed said the health department was committed to control TB and implement the Directly Observed Therapy System (DOTS) in eight districts. He claimed that the Gujranwala, Sialkot and Rawalpindi districts had been covered completely. He said the DOTS was currently being extended to D.G. Khan, Muzaffargarh, Bahawalnagar, Chakwal and Vehari districts.

He said chest specialists at DHQs and designated medical officers at tehsil headquarters hospitals had been made responsible for carrying out DOTS related activities. Similarly, he said the medical superintendents had also been directed to provide administrative support besides ensuring the availability of drugs, materials and supplies.

The minister said the government was distributing TB drugs worth Rs1 billion free of cost among patients in small districts.

Punjab TB Control Programme director Dr Nafis Fatima said the healthcare for tuberculosis and other chest diseases was being offered at over 3,000 primary and secondary care facilities in the province. In addition, she said 25 TB clinics, nine TB control centres and one TB sanitarium were also offering services in the province.

TB DAY: The Shaikh Zayed Hospital’s pulmonology department also organized a symposium to observe the World TB Day on Wednesday.