LAHORE: 2017 did not bear fruits for Punjab government as it was haunted by various scandals including fake stents and illegal kidney transplant scandal, along with the leakage of medical examination papers which affected government’s reputation internationally.
Furthermore, protests of young doctors added to the woes of the patients who were already suffering in the hospitals of Punjab.
Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif is in power from the last 10 years, and like the previous nine years, no fruitful steps could be seen.
Death of a woman on the floor of Jinnah Hospital at the very beginning of the previous year was shameful for the government. Corruption scandals also surfaced and children were born on roads causing resentment in the masses. The kidnapping of infants from government hospitals was also witnessed.
On the other hand, Punjab Health Minister Khawaja Imran Nazir said that for the betterment of health department, all resources were utilised. Punjab Aids Control Programme also inaugurated a testing centre, he added.
Imran Nazir said that “we should realise our responsibilities instead of pointing fingers towards the government”. All across Punjab, over 100 filter clinics have been made operational, he added.
He was of the view that the AIDS project, which had failed, needed to be revived.
Within past one year, over 2,300 drivers and other workers went through clinical examination, besides 47,000 prisoners in different jails, the minister informed.
