The Punjab government and the Recep Tayyip Erdogan Hospital Trust signed an agreement regarding the management of the Kidney Hospital, Multan. Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif was the chief guest of the ceremony held in Model Town here on Wednesday.
Speaking at the ceremony, the chief minister said implored the country to join hands to stand with humanity and forget negative politics to make Pakistan a great country. He said we should join hands to make Pakistan a great country where everybody receives equal rights as per the dreams of Allama Iqbal and Quaid-e-Azam.
Specialized Healthcare and Medical Education Secretary Najam Ahmed Shah signed the agreement on behalf of the Punjab government along with Recep Tayyip Erdogan Hospital Trust Board Chairman Javed Saleem Qureshi.
Under the agreement, the control of the Kidney Hospital has been handed over to the Recep Tayyip Erdogan Hospital. Addressing the agreement signing ceremony, Shehbaz Sharif said that under the agreement signed between the Punjab government and Indus the Group, the control of the 150-bed Kidney Hospital has been handed over to the Indus Group.
He said that the Indus Group was running the Recep Tayyip Erdogan Hospital, Muzaffargarh in an excellent manner and that the hospital had become an example of excellent performance not only in South Punjab but in the whole country.
The chief minister said that under the agreement, the Indus Group will take over the responsibility of the hospital after 12 weeks and by June the hospital would start providing medical aid to kidney patients.
He said that the Punjab government had inaugurated its first hepatitis filter clinic two weeks ago in the Pakistan Kidney and Liver Transplant Institute and that the clinic was also being run by a trust comprising of philanthropists and renowned surgeons.
Shehbaz Sharif said that the model would be extended throughout Punjab to provide medical treatment to the entire province. He said that Dr Abdul Bari was the main spirit of the Indus Group, being a great person for having sympathy for patients and an honest person.
The chief minister said that he would fight against those who do not serve patients and indulge in politics. He appealed to the doctors and experts associated with the health sector to help patients. He said that the Punjab government will further forward the model of public-private partnerships and that the model will be introduced in government hospitals.
Shehbaz Sharif appealed to senior and junior doctors and nurses to come forward and change the provincial healthcare system and construct such a Pakistan where the common man has treatment facilities at par with the elite.
Answering questions of the media, the chief minister said all-out efforts are being made by the Punjab government to provide standardised medical facilities at hospitals. He said this is an evolutionary process and will take time but that he was confident about its success.
Provincial Minister Khwaja Salman Rafiq, Special Assistant Malik Ahmed Khan, the chief secretary, additional chief secretary, Indus Regional Board Chairman Mian Muhammad Ahsan and other concerned officials were also present on the occasion.
