‘Punjab’s immunization rate highest in Pakistan’

RAWALPINDI: Provincial Minister for Primary and Secondary Health Punjab Dr Jamal Nasir on Monday said children’s immunization rate in Punjab was the highest in the country due to the integrated health system and public awareness.

Addressing a media workshop on immunization at a local hotel, he said that the health department had created a system for the repair of damaged medical machinery under which any machine in a government hospital or primary health centre would be reported on the online system and would be addressed within 24 hours.

Dr Jamal said that revolutionary measures had been taken in the health sector during the last four months under which 52,000 prisoners had been tested for hepatitis A, B, and C, TB, AIDS, and other diseases in all the jails of Punjab and vaccinated against the diseases. He said that 17,000 police personnel and officers had also been screened out for various diseases.

Dr Jamal Nasir said that recruitment for various posts was being carried out on merit while the lady health workers’ posts had also been upgraded. He informed that more than 1,000 ad-hoc recruitments had been made in four and a half months to address the shortage of human resources in the health department.

He said that special attention was being paid to cleanliness in the government treatment centres and three colours of bed sheets had been fixed in the emergency wards of all hospitals to ensure that the sheets were changed every day.

He said that special arrangements have been made to ensure the cleanliness of the bathrooms and surprise visits will also be made to check the cleanliness.

He advised the residents to contact toll-free numbers at 1166 and 1033 for any health-related issue. Speaking on the occasion, Immunization Officer UNICEF Qaratul Ain urged the media to broadcast public service messages to create awareness among the public about immunization.