Culture of delay eliminated in Punjab health sector: Kh Salman Rafique

LAHORE, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 18th Feb, 2026) Punjab Health Minister Khawaja Salman Rafique has said that for the first time in Punjab, the culture of delay has been eliminated in the health sector.

He expressed these views while chairing a meeting of the Punjab Health Initiative Management Company regarding the Chief Minister’s health initiatives on Wednesday. CEO PHIMC Dr Ali Razaq attended the meeting.

During the briefing, the minister was informed about the monitoring framework of various health projects, service delivery improvements, and measures taken for the convenience of patients. Public feedback on new and innovative health projects was also reviewed. The provincial health minister promised ensuring transparency in flagship programmes, improving service quality, and strengthening monitoring mechanisms for better patient care.

Khawaja Salman said millions of patients had benefited from services at Punjab’s specialised hospitals. He said surgeries had been performed and free medicines worth billions of rupees have been distributed in specialized hospitals across the province. He added that progress is underway on the Chief Minister’s Special Initiative for the Cancer Patient Card, as well as special programs for cancer and cardiac surgeries. Under the Chief Minister’s Children’s Heart Surgery Programme, more than 10,496 children have undergone free heart surgeries across Punjab at a cost of billions of rupees.

The minister further stated that under the same programme, 437 children from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, 256 from Azad Kashmir, 108 from Islamabad, 29 from Balochistan, 36 from Gilgit-Baltistan, and 27 from Sindh have also received free cardiac surgeries in Punjab.

Under the Chief Minister’s Special Initiative for the Transplant Programme, 1,282 transplants have been performed so far, including 673 renal, 351 cochlear, 212 liver, 16 bone marrow, and 30 corneal transplants. He said more than 1.37 million patients had received free dialysis under the Chief Minister’s Dialysis Programme, with over 35,288 patients registered in hospitals for dialysis services.

The minister said the Punjab Public Service Commission is recruiting thousands of new doctors and nurses on 100 per cent merit, while ad-hoc recruitment of doctors was also underway after approval from the provincial cabinet. He announced that the OPD block of the Nawaz Sharif Institute of Cancer Treatment and Research will soon be activated to fulfill the commitment of saving thousands of lives. The Jinnah Institute of Cardiology is also expected to become functional soon.

The performance of 57 specialised hospitals across Punjab was reviewed during the meeting. For the convenience of heart patients in Sargodha Division, directions were issued to make the Nawaz Sharif Institute of Cardiology fully functional by April 2026. Authorities were also directed to complete the Nawaz Sharif Cardiology Center Murree at all costs.

COO Shamshad Khan, Mian Munib, Hasnat Ahmed, CFO Bilal Butt, managers and other officers attended the meeting.