Punjab spends Rs5bn annually on patients, says Azma Bukhari

Punjab Information Minister Azma Bukhari has said the provincial government spends Rs5 billion every

Punjab Information Minister Azma Bukhari has said the provincial government spends Rs5 billion every year on patients’ treatment.

Responding to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Adviser for Finance Muzzammil Aslam, Bukhari said 70 patients at Mayo Hospital are already benefiting from cancer treatment machines.

She said five more cancer treatment machines have also arrived for hospitals in Rawalpindi and Faisalabad. The machines are now being made operational, she added.

Bukhari said the Punjab government spends billions of rupees every year to provide medical treatment to patients. She added that more than 70 patients suffering from stage-one cancer have so far received successful treatment free of cost.

The provincial information minister questioned Muzzammil Aslam about the performance of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government.

“Now tell us what achievements the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has made,” she asked.

Bukhari’s remarks came in response to criticism from the KP finance adviser over the condition of public healthcare facilities.

Earlier, Muzzammil Aslam had said that the federal health minister’s statement regarding the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) incident had raised several important questions.

He claimed that PIMS has an annual budget of around Rs10 billion. Despite such a large allocation, he said, the current condition of the hospital remained a serious concern.

Aslam further argued that even a private hospital could become an excellent institution if it received one-tenth of PIMS’ annual budget.

He also questioned the alleged wastage and misuse of public resources. He asked how long the alleged mismanagement and financial irregularities in public institutions would continue.

Aslam also questioned the response of emergency services during the PIMS incident. He asked where Rescue 1122 was at the time of the incident.