Summary Khawaja Salman Rafique said the Punjab government had allocated Rs116 million for the Water Testing Laboratory to strengthen monitoring of environmental health and water quality.
LAHORE (APP) - Punjab Health Minister Khawaja Salman Rafique on Sunday said that in the current era, public health did not only mean treatment, but a strong health system required digital records, disease monitoring, laboratory networks and research-based decisions.
Addressing the 7th International Health Research Conference as chief guest at the Institute of Public Health (IPH), Lahore, he said the theme of the conference, “One Nation, One Record, One Registry Network,” was highly important for the future of Pakistan’s health sector.
Khawaja Salman said Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz was fully committed to strengthening the health sector and supporting the medical community.
He highlighted several major health initiatives launched by the Punjab government, including the Chief Minister’s Children’s Heart Surgery Program, kidney and liver transplant programs, bone marrow transplants, cochlear implants, corneal transplants, adult cardiac surgery, cancer treatment and stroke management programs.
The provincial minister said neurology services for adults and children were also being introduced in all districts in phases, while special arrangements had been made for free dialysis treatment in government and private hospitals across Punjab.
He further stated that new children’s hospitals were being established at all divisional headquarters. He added that the Nawaz Sharif Institute of Cardiology in Sargodha and the Jinnah Institute of Cardiology in Lahore would start functioning in July, while burn units were also being set up in divisional headquarters, Bahawalpur and Rahim Yar Khan.
Khawaja Salman Rafique said the Punjab government had allocated Rs116 million for the Water Testing Laboratory to strengthen monitoring of environmental health and water quality.
He added that the establishment and operational strengthening of the Public Health Laboratory had improved preparedness, diagnostics and surveillance systems for disease outbreaks.
He said the Institute of Public Health had played an active role in dengue surveillance, alert generation, vector monitoring and technical guidance for outbreak preparedness in line with integrated vector management principles recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO).
