District Nazim Hyderabad Kanwar Naveed Jamil has said that provision of health facilities to the people at their nearest is one of the top priorities of the District government and in this direction revolutionary steps have been initiated for development of all government health facilities of the district.
Besides the establishment of six new hospitals in different parts of the district, the District government is upgrading the existing hospitals with induction of new wards and latest medical equipment's so that the patients could not face any inconvenience in getting treatment at their nearest.
Kanwar informed this while addressing a joint meeting with the office-bearers of Red Crescent and Lions Club here at his office Friday evening. District Co-ordination Officer Aftab Ahmed Khatri was also present on the occasion.
He said the District government had allocated a huge grant in the annual budget 2007-8, under which the hospitals, rural health centres and basic health units being managed by the District government would be reactivated.
The District government had allocated Rs 60 million for purchase of medicines so that the same could be provided to the poor patients in the district government run hospitals, he said.
He added that an amount of Rs 12.5 million had also been earmarked for purchase of ventilators, spectrometers and AGB machines so that in case of emergency, the patients could get artificial respiratory facility in the hospital.
At present, he said that no such machines were available in the hospitals and the patients were availing of those facilities in the hospitals of Karachi. After availability of those machines, the patients could be saved from inconvenient, he added.
He informed that Rs 90 millions would be spent on various development schemes in health sectors both in urban and rural parts of the district with objectives to provide better health facilities to the people at their nearest.
The District government also allocated Rs five million for the purchase of medical and surgical equipment for its health centres, while Rs 10 million had been earmarked for repair and renovation of rural health centres of the district, he informed.
He also informed that Rs 1.2 million had been reserved for purchase of two additional ambulances for rural health centres adding that during last two years, the District government had purchased 12 ambulances for these centres.
The District Nazim said that in view of increasing diabetic disease that causing kidney failure, lungs infection, heart attacks and other diseases, the District government has planned to establish diabetic centres in all Talukas of the district with Rs 2.5 million, where diabetic test of poor and needy people would be conducted free of cost.