Pakistan and Italy on Friday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) here for upgradation of Nishtar Hospital's Burn Unit to provide modern treatment facilities to acid attack victims particularly women. Principal Nishtar Hospital and Medical College Professor Dr Sami Akhtar and co-ordinator for the project Marchette signed the MoU.
Italian Ambassador to Pakistan Vincenzo Prati, Prime Minister's son MPA Syed Abdul Qadir Gilani, PM's brother MPA Syed Ahmad Mujtaba Gilani, hospital's board of management chairman Khawaja Jalaluddin Roomi and other officials attended the ceremony held at Hayat Zafar auditorium of Nishtar Hospital. The project worth Rs 850 million would begin in July 2012 and be completed in three years. Provincial government has contributed Rs 410 million for the project.
In addition to financial support worth Rs 440 million, the Italian government also undertook to train twelve doctors and 24 nurses in Italy to equip them with modern day skills and knowledge on how to provide treatment to acid attack patients. Moreover, Italian doctors would also visit Pakistan to extend training to Pakistani doctors.
Italian Ambassador said on the occasion that the leadership of both the countries was committed to work together in different sectors. He said that Italy has undertaken two projects in Multan including the rehabilitation of the Walled City and the Burn Unit upgradation.
He said that signing of MoU for Burn unit upgradation was a significant development and heaped praise on Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani on successful launch of the two mega initiatives. Vincenzo Prati expressed the hope that the two countries would continue to cooperate with each other in the years to come.
While speaking on the occasion, Prime Minister's son MPA Syed Abdul Qadir Gilani thanked the Italian government and people for providing much needed support to Pakistan. The credit for the successful launch of this project goes to Italian government and the people, he added. He said that work was in progress to restore the historical Walled City Multan with co-operation from Italian government.
Abdul Qadir Gilani expressed concerns that the lack of awareness among the people was major factor behind acid attack incidents against women in South Punjab. He, however, added that Acid Control and Acid Crime Prevention Act has been introduced to help check such incidents effectively. He commended Italian government on extending training to Pakistani doctors and suggested that the two countries should also exchange delegations of students and teachers from other departments to benefit from each others' experience.