*Shuja says govt has allocated huge funds to provide better health facilities to citizens
In order to achieve Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), record funds are being provided to health and education sectors and the major focus of the government is on protecting the health of people trough strengthening of Primary Health Care and Disease Preventive Programmes, said Punjab Minister for Excise, Taxation and Finance Mujtaba Shujaur Rehman while talking to various delegations at his residence on Thursday.
The minister said that resources worth billion of rupees have been allocated for the provision of education, health and other basic facilities in the current fiscal year budget.
He said that special attention is being paid to the provision of best treatment facilities to the people of far-flung areas especially remote areas of South Punjab and Rs 1 billion have been provided for mobile health units. He said that more resources would be provided to uplift socio-economic status of the masses.
The government is focusing for the treatment of chronic and fatal diseases. He said that for imparting modern education to students Rs 274 billion will be spent on education sector during the current fiscal year which is 26.25 percent of the total budget of the province.
Shuja said the government was encouraging the NGOs as well as educational institutions for organising awareness events against fatal diseases.
He said the Punjab government has provided additional budget for the provision of health services in Punjab. He said that by increasing the health budget up to Rs 121.80 billion, the present government has ensured modern healthcare facilities and free medicines as well as air-conditioning in general wards to poor and deprived people.
He told that with a cost or Rs 4 billion health insurance cards will be issued to provide state-of-the-art healthcare facilities even in private health institutions to the poor card holder patients.
He said that Rs 600 million have been reserved for dialysis facilities to the poor kidney patients. He said that huge amount of Rs 8.75 billon is being spent on the provision of free treatment and medicines to the poor and destitute in public sector hospitals of the province.
