MUZAFFARABAD (PID) Azad Jammu and Kashmir Health Minister Dr Nisar Ansar Abdali has said that the government is working on a comprehensive plan to tackle the challenges facing the health sector. He said measures are being taken on priority basis to ensure the attendance of doctors, improve service delivery and meet the need of infrastructure.
He expressed these views in an exclusive interview with PID Digital Media Forum in his office here on Thursday. Information Officers Qurat Ul Ain Shabbir and Raja Abdul Basit Khan interviewed the Health Minister.He said when he took office the coronavirus rate was 30%, which is now only 3% and added that the government has also taken timely steps to control dengue. He said at present Azad Kashmir is dengue free and also has better results than that of all other provinces of Pakistan in terms of corona vaccination.
The Minister said 11 Oxygen Generation Plants will be set up and Azad Kashmir will become self-sufficient in terms of oxygen. Oxygen Generation Plants have been delivered in Rawalakot and AIMS Muzaffarabad and it is being installed in AIMS. The installation of oxygen plants will save the crores of rupees annually of the health department.
He thanked the Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan for providing 140 million rupees additional for the development of health . The Health Minister said that revolutionary steps have been taken by the Prime Minister of Pakistan for the provision of Health cards to extend health facilities to the people and the government is revising the structure of this programme in the state. He said the previous government deliberately made mistakes and did not allow the people here to benefit from this program of the federal government.
The Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan has given health cards to every citizen of Azad Kashmir which is a big job.In response to a question, he said that the health department is facing a severe shortage of staff and there was a shortage of 4,000 doctors and four specialist doctors and we are moving forward with a strategy to address the staff shortage and this can be met in phases.
The Health Minister said that the ongoing campaign to eradicate measles and rubella is yielding good results and full cooperation from the people in this regard is encouraging. ۔ EPI and CDC are doing very well and UNICEF and World Health Organization are also satisfied with the performance of these organizations and are ready to invest in big projects in Azad Kashmir. .
He said that a biometric system is being installed to ensure the attendance of doctors and medical staff. The building of Muzaffarabad Club was selected for the construction of a heart hospital in Muzaffarabad which has some complications regarding the need of the hospital but soon all the issues in this regard will be settled. Replying to anothere he said in the mega development package of 500 billion rupees special funds will be allocated for the development of the health sector.
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