'Punjab government implementing disease prevention programme'

"Punjab government is implementing a comprehensive disease prevention programme and spending billions of rupees to provide quality healthcare to the people while the Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has allocated 30 acres land adjacent to Knowledge Park for the construction of Cancer Hospital at Bedian Road." This was stated by the Advisor to Chief Minister on Health Khwaja Salman Rafique while addressing awareness seminar on cancer.
Principal Allama Iqbal Medical College Professor Mehmood Shoukat, Professor of Oncology Dr Zaiba Aziz, Country Head Novartis Pharma Pakistan Shafiq Ahmad, Professor Abu Bakar from Inmol Hospital, Dr Tahir Bashir Oncologist Jinnah Hospital, Dr Imran Hamid, Dr Umer Saeed, Dr Shayan Shaukat and a large number of people attended the seminar.
Professor Mehmood Shaukat informed that two years back, on the direction of Chief Minister Punjab, a joint venture was started by the Punjab Health department and Novartis Pharma Pakistan to provide free medicines to the patients of chronic mellitus leukaemia and this project is successfully being run for the last two years. He further said that presently government is providing costly medicines to 2549 registered patients.
Professor Shoukat informed that approximately medicines worth Rs 1 to 1.5 million is being provided to each patients at free of cost and for this purpose four regional centres at Lahore, Multan, Rawalpindi and Faisalabad have been providing this facility and the patients registered across the province are getting these medicines.
Rafique said on the occasion that the government is considering aspects to further enhance the present collaboration between Health department and Novartis so that patients of other types of cancer disease could also be benefited from this facility. Dr Tahir Bashir, Oncologist from Jinnah Hospital said that people can minimise the risk factor of Cancer by changing their lifestyle, reducing body weight, use of vegetables and fruits instead of red meat and quit smoking. He advised that every healthy person should get his medical check-up at least once in a year.
Rafique disclosed that Punjab government is providing free medicines of Rs 16 billion with collaboration of Novartis under CML Project. He further said that first phase of Pakistan Kidney and Liver Transplant & Research Institute will be completed by August 2017 on which Rs 15 billion are being spent.