Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has reiterated his firm resolve “that soon after sweeping next general elections in the country, the PPP-led governments would make the dream of setting up health facilities like Gambut Institute of Medical Sciences, SICVD and CyberKnife technology a reality in other provinces, too, because the other three provinces seriously lag far behind Sindh with regard to health system”.
Bilawal said that provision of the state-of-the-art and free-of-cost medical facilities to the people and revamping and upgradation of public health system is what the PPP had always aimed at and continues to take steps for.
“It is the obligation of the state to take steps towards free-of-cost provision of medical facilities to the citizens, particularly to that downtrodden section of the populace that cannot bear the additional burden (of healthcare),” the PPP chairman said. According to a statement issued by Bilawal House Media Cell, in his message on the occasion of World Health Day, Bilawal said that the statistics regarding people’s access to health facilities in Pakistan point at a disappointing situation.
Since up to 40 percent of population of the country lives under the poverty line, it cannot meet the huge medical expenses and hence cannot be left at the mercy of private sector healthcare, he added. The PPP chairman claimed that not even a single tertiary care hospital was established in Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan during the last many years. Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that his party’s governments had always taken due responsibility of providing standard public health.
He added that Benazir Bhutto took a revolutionary step in Pakistan’s public health sector by creating lady health workers in the 90s, who are the backbone of the country’s healthcare system today. He said that the Sindh government has, despite limited resources, always taken drastic measures for the improvement and upgradation of standard and free-of-cost health facilities for the masses.
He pointed out that the PPP-led Sindh government has set up more than 500 small and large health centers and hospitals across the province till date. Sindh Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases, Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Center, Gambut Institute of Medical Sciences and Dow Medical University of Health Sciences have been revamped. The CyberKnife robotic radiosurgery set up for cancer patients at JPMC is also a blessing for the patients suffering from cancers, he said.
The ailing people receive free treatment in these aforementioned healthcare facilities, Bilawal said, adding that in addition to this, these facilities equally cater to the medical needs of the people from other cities and provinces. He further said that the Sindh government, under its “Health for All” policy, has opened the door to free state-of-the-art medical services for every Pakistani.
The PPP chairman also endorsed the World Health Organization’s theme for the World Health Day this year, “Our Planet, Our Health”. Bilawal paid a glowing tribute to those front-line health workers and doctors who embraced martyrdom during the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and anti-polio campaigns.
