Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif has said that money, wealth, honour and authority may be attained, but the opportunity to serve is bestowed upon only a few. \u201cI tell ministers, bureaucracy, officers, doctors and everyone entrusted with responsibility that if we discharge our trust in the best possible manner, we will receive the best reward,\u201d she said.Addressing the inaugural ceremony of the Jinnah Institute of Cardiology and Maryam Nawaz Heart Transplant Centre, the chief minister announced the introduction of home dialysis machines in Punjab. She said that she felt immense happiness on visiting the Jinnah Institute of Cardiology, adding that the institute had been her dream and she had eagerly awaited its completion.\u201cI have routine meetings and official engagements every day, but on a day when I do not make any decision or take any step for public service, I feel that the day has been wasted,\u201d she remarked.The chief minister said that the Pakistan Institute of Cardiology (PIC), established by Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, was doing an excellent job in Lahore, a city with a population of around 30 million. \u201cPeople from Punjab as well as Gilgit-Baltistan, Azad Kashmir and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa come to PIC. With the growing prevalence of heart disease, it had become difficult to cater to everyone through a single public hospital,\u201d she said.She expressed satisfaction that the Jinnah Institute of Cardiology had become fully functional and angiography had also been performed there. \u201cVisiting the sick is a great virtue; serving patients and providing them treatment is an even greater honour,\u201d she added.CM Maryam Nawaz congratulated Dr Hasnat, who returned from England with a spirit of service. She said that Dr Hasnat had studied in Pakistan and earned recognition abroad. \u201cMany Pakistani doctors go abroad and excel in their respective fields,\u201d she said.The chief minister said that comparing Pakistan with Western countries was a favourite practice, but Pakistan was only 79 years old. \u201cSome Western countries have populations smaller than Lahore or even a street or locality here,\u201d she observed.She said that around 100 million people visited public hospitals last year. \u201cMedicines, surgeries and procedures are provided free of cost, while medicines are also delivered to people\u2019s homes. In which country does this happen?\u201d she asked.She, however, acknowledged that there was still room for improvement in the public healthcare system. \u201cUnfortunately, medicines, injections and insulin are stolen, staff members take money, and hospital machinery is deliberately rendered dysfunctional through collusion,\u201d she said.Despite these challenges, treating 100 million people in public hospitals was no ordinary achievement, she added.The chief minister said political parties should focus on delivery, public service and performance. \u201cUnfortunately, one party\u2019s focus is on agitation and another\u2019s on corruption, whereas the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz\u2019s ethos is rooted in service and development,\u201d she said.\u201cWherever you look at a major project in Pakistan, you can see the imprint of Muhammad Nawaz Sharif and the PML-N. I thank Allah Almighty for this,\u201d she added.CM Maryam Nawaz said that, by the grace of Allah Almighty, Pakistan\u2019s first heart transplant centre was being launched. She said heart transplantation was an expensive treatment and cost around $50,000. \u201cBy using Chinese technology, we will bring down the cost of a heart transplant to around $10,000 so that more people can benefit from this facility,\u201d she said.She announced that heart transplant procedures at the Jinnah Institute of Cardiology would be provided 100 per cent free of cost. \u201cWe have established Pakistan\u2019s first-of-its-kind heart transplant centre,\u201d she said.The chief minister said the institute had six cath labs, five operation theatres and, for the first time, a heart-lung machine. \u201cLooking at the operation theatres of the Jinnah Institute of Cardiology, one feels as if they are in Switzerland,\u201d she remarked.She said AI technology had also been integrated with the cath labs. A hybrid cath lab would also be available, enabling doctors to immediately perform surgery whenever required. \u201cA hybrid cath lab can instantly be converted into an operation theatre,\u201d she explained.CM Maryam Nawaz said cardiac surgery was a highly delicate procedure and zero-infection technology had been introduced at the Jinnah Institute of Cardiology. Tesla MRI and a 640-slice CT scan machine had also been installed, while a state-of-the-art electrophysiology department had been established.She said a director of nursing from New Zealand was serving at the institute. \u201cWomen work with great dedication,\u201d she said, adding that Colonel Sabrina had been assigned responsibilities at the Jinnah Institute of Cardiology.The chief minister expressed the hope that the administration of the institute would ensure that patients did not have to wait unnecessarily, medicines were not stolen and the facility remained infection-free.She recalled that two-and-a-half years ago, around 15,000 children were waiting for heart surgeries, and 14,600 children had since undergone operations. \u201cAsk the parents whose children have holes in their hearts. They had no money\u2014only tears and endless waiting,\u201d she said.CM Maryam Nawaz said that 2,460 organ transplant operations had been performed in Punjab. The stroke programme was also being successfully implemented at the district level. \u201cEvery moment is precious after a stroke,\u201d she said.She said that districts such as Mianwali and Jhang had previously not even considered the possibility of having cath labs, let alone advanced cardiac treatment. \u201cWe have established cath labs in 20 districts of Punjab,\u201d she said.The chief minister said Pakistan\u2019s largest cancer hospital, with 1,000 beds, was being established. She said other provinces were also following Punjab\u2019s example by launching air ambulance services.\u201cDuring the 60-minute golden hour, a patient is transported to a hospital through an air ambulance,\u201d she said.She said people from Azad Kashmir had expressed demand for Green Bus, Suthra Punjab and Clinic on Wheels initiatives. Under the Clinic on Wheels programme, medical tests, treatment and X-rays were provided in villages and remote areas without requiring patients to travel to hospitals.\u201cThere is no need for mothers and newborn children to travel to hospitals for routine examinations,\u201d she added.The chief minister said around one million people were receiving free two-month stocks of medicines for diseases including cancer, heart disease and tuberculosis.She said rulers should take healthcare and other essential facilities to the doorstep of the people. \u201cIf people have to suffer and struggle to receive their basic rights, it means the government has failed,\u201d she remarked.CM Maryam Nawaz directed IDAP CEO Shah Mir to complete the Medical District at the earliest so that patients could receive quality treatment.She prayed that every government hospital would set new standards in public service and patient care.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif has said that money, wealth, honour and authority may be attained, but the opportunity to serve is bestowed upon only a few. \u201cI tell ministers, bureaucracy, officers, doctors and everyone entrusted with responsibility that if we discharge our trust in the best possible manner, we will receive the best …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":72167,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[54],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-72166","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-54"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/baldiyattimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72166","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/baldiyattimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/baldiyattimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baldiyattimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baldiyattimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=72166"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/baldiyattimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72166\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":72168,"href":"https:\/\/baldiyattimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72166\/revisions\/72168"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baldiyattimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/72167"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/baldiyattimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=72166"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baldiyattimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=72166"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baldiyattimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=72166"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}