The Balochistan government had created 1019 new vacancies for doctors who would be appointed on contract basis to facilitate the poor patients in the remote areas of the province, said Minister for Health Balochistan, Naseeb Ullah Marri.
Talking to APP Minister said that the provincial government has formulating Health policy and now health department is in final stages to complete aligned health strategy.
He said the government was generating the vacancies of Surveillance Officer for the inspection of hazardous diseases on district level. “Nutrition and drought emergency had been declared in province and task force constituted under chairmanship of chief minister, adding that the nutrition support programme has been extended from 7 districts to 22 districts with support of United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) and world food program, Marri said” The government has purchased ambulances for maternal and child health services under the Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (MNCH) programme, he said.
The provincial government has upgraded the status of the first medical college of the province to medical university and increased the grant of Bolan Medical University and Health Science to Rs 1.647 billion, he said.
To control the rising number of incidents and losses of human lives in road accidents, the provincial government will establish trauma and medical centres along with the national highways for the first time in the province, adding for that the government was creating new vacancies for surgeons and technical staff, Mari informed. He said the government has already allocated Rs 168 million for the provision of emergency ambulances and modern equipments for every centre.
He said that the provincial government has been allocating special funds for cancer patients and assistance in buying of stunts for heart disease patients.
In order to transfer maximum authorities to grass root level, the government has released more than Rs 2.3 billion for the provision of medicine, disposable items for all districts, however the government is working to revamp 48 rural health centres to provide basic health facilities to the residents of far flung areas of the province on their door step.
He said that all possible steps were being taken for the development of less developed areas of the province.
He said the government was striving hard to bring all less developed areas at par with the developed ones Balochistan government would establish a 50-bed hospital in Kila Abdullah with the estimated cost of Rs 500 million to ensure health facilities to the remote and backward district of the province. The minister said sophisticated machinery worth Rs 180 million would be purchased for the trauma centres at Bolan Medical Complex Quetta and Shaikh Zayed Hospital Khuzdar. Thoracic surgery unit and new OPD is under construction in fatima Jinnah medical hospital, he added.
He said that Rs 500 million would be spent by the provincial government on the construction of Basic Health Units (BHUs) in every tehsil of the province. He assured that all pending schemes would be completed within due course of time for which funds have been released by the provincial government. The Minister said that seven more nursing colleges would be constructed in the province and the government had been allocating a huge amount for their development.
The existing nursing schools would be upgraded to the college level, he maintained. The plan for construction of reference laboratory at Fatima Jinnah Chest and General Hospital Quetta was in process and that would be the first kind of laboratory for diagnosing serious diseases as well as Congo virus and others, he informed.
Similarly, the dialysis centres would be established at 18 districts of the province at a cost of Rs one billion for each and the vacancies would be created for the required staff. Likewise, Rs 500 million would be spent for the development and renovation of the government hospitals in 16 districts of the province. He said the government has increased the allocation from Rs 718 to Rs 950 million for the provision of medicines in public hospitals of the province. The Provincial government was taking various steps to ensure presence of concerned medical officials and paramedics in the hospitals of all far-flung areas of the province, he noted.