Chief Minister’s Advisor on Health Khawaja Salman Raffique has said that on the instructions of Shehbaz Sharif, nine rehabilitation centres will be established for disabled persons at divisional headquarters. These centres, he added, would be equipped with modern healthcare facilities and three such centres would be set up every year.
He said this while presiding over a meeting at Civil Secretariat to review the plan of establishing rehabilitation centres in Punjab. Secretary Medical Education & Tertiary Healthcare Jawwad Raffique Malik, Special Secretary Health Gulzar Hussain Shah, members Punjab Assembly Dr. Aalia Aftab, Mehmood Laghari, member P&D (Health) Dr Shabana, Additional Secretary Finance Department Dr Noor-ul-Ain, officers of Punjab Information Technology Board, representatives of International Council Red Crescent and others attended the meeting.
The meeting was informed that a model rehabilitation centre was already established in Muzaffargarh which would also be expanded with the cooperation of CHAL Foundation and ICRC.
Raffique informed the meeting that in the first phase, three centers would be established at Rawalpindi, Sargodha and Bahawalpur divisions for which Rs 650 million had been allocated. It was informed that 5000 sq ft land would be required for the each centre.
He said that in the traffic accidents and terror-related incidents, a lot of people were deprived of their limbs. Many children also born with limbs-disorders for which, rehabilitation centers were the need for their rehabilitation, he said, adding, these centres would not only provide artificial limbs to such needy persons but also provide orthopedic surgery and physiotherapy facilities.
He said that Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif had taken numerous solid steps to provide best healthcare facilities to the people and setting up of rehabilitation centres was also part of the people-friendly policy of the Punjab government.
The meeting nominated Additional Secretary Health (Tech) Dr Salman Shahid as focal person for the project.
Secretary Health Jawwad Raffique Malik directed that a master plan should be prepared for all 9 rehabilitation centres so that uniformity could be ensured in the project.
