ISLAMABAD, June 12: Federal Minister for Health Mohammad Nasir Khan on Monday said the health ministry had decided to computerise all state-run hospitals at central and provincial level.

He was addressing launching ceremony of Automation of Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences.

Federal Minister for Information Technology Awais Ahmed Khan Leghari, also spoke on the occasion, said that the IT ministry would assist the health ministry in computerisation of all state-run hospitals. In this regard the ministry has asked the health ministry to submit project concept, he added.

Earlier federal minister for Information Technology Awais Ahmad Khan Leghari and Federal Minister of Health Mohammad Naseer Khan, inaugurated the first fully integrated hospital management information system and computerisation project in Pims.

The health minister said through the computerised data at Pims, helped health ministry to send the required medicines, medical equipments and other necessary things to the earthquake hit areas without any difficulty.

About 27,000 doctors and pera-medial staff were easily deployed in the quake hit areas because of the computerisation, he added.

The record of inputs were also made available because of the computerised system, the minister said.

Earlier, executive director Pims Dr Fazle Hadi in his address of welcome said that due to computerisation, transparency and efficiency of various administrative departments including stores and accounts had improved significantly.

Chief of Hospital Management Information System Dr Haroon Khan said that the networking and computing facilities at Islamabad Hospital, Pims had been completed and were fully functional now.

Departments including registration, laboratory, radiology, blood bank, medical stores and various OPDs were computerised and formal training of the hospital management’s information system (HMIS) application to medical, paramedical and non-medical staff was under way, he added.

Every patient is assigned a unique number, through which all related activity can be tracked down, including past medical history, radiology and laboratory results, on clicking just one button, which help the doctors and consultants to efficiently treat the patients, Dr Khan said.

This was a joint project of ministry of health and information technology costing Rs40 million. It was initiated in March 2005 and would end by June 7, 2007. The project is being executed by electronic government directorate (EGD).

In the project all the work of nine different hospitals and medical education institutes, in Pims would be computerised.

Dr Haroon said the data of patients would also be available online after the completion of the project and one could approach it from any where through web.

On this occasion the IT minister donated 100 computers to Pims on the request of Federal Minister of Health Mohammad Naseer Khan.

Later, talking to newsmen Federal Minister for Information Technology Awais Ahmad Khan Leghari said the National Assembly was debating budgetary proposals and the issue of 15 per cent general sales tax on computer hardware would also come under discussion, and expressed the hope that it would be settled amicably.

He was replying to a question about 35 per cent likely increase in price of computers as a result of this tax.

APP adds: Federal Secretary for Health Syed Anwar Mehmood at a PTV programme said that government would bring law for registration and regulation of private hospitals, clinic and maternity clinic.

He said draft of the bill is ready and in the law ministry for consultation which would hopefully be approved soon.

In response to a question he said budget of the federal hospitals had been increased 100 per cent which would help provide medical care to common man.