While she was at Lahore’s Children’s Hospital on Monday, Chief Minister of Punjab Maryam Nawaz Sharif formally launched the “Chief Minister’s Children’s Heart Surgery Program.” Children with heart problems will be able to get free treatment and surgery through this new program, no matter how much money they have.
CM Maryam gave out “Child Surgery Cards” to patients who were qualified during the visit to make sure they could get the benefits of the Program. She promised the parents that their child’s surgery would be done at a private facility if government hospitals couldn’t fit it because they were full.
Along with the launch, CM Maryam inspected the Hospital’s High Dependency Unit (HDU) and other departments, looking at the cardiac surgery ward’s facilities and services. To show how much she cared about the young patients, she talked to them, gave them gifts, and even played Ludo with them. “May Allah grant you health; we all pray for you,” she said as she prayed for their healing.
CM Maryam also talked to the parents of the kids and asked them about their experiences and whether the facilities were good enough. She promised to help people who had to wait a long time by saying, “It is my mission to free every citizen of Punjab, including children, from the system of queues and waiting.” She said the government would hire more specialist doctors and other support staff to make it easier for kids to have heart surgeries in government hospitals.
In the first phase of the program, heart surgery for kids will be available at six government and selected private hospitals. These include the Punjab Institute of Cardiology (PIC) and Children’s Hospital in Lahore, the Children’s Hospital and PIC in Multan, and the Cardiology Institutes in Faisalabad and Rawalpindi.
This program is a big step toward making it easier for kids in Punjab to get life-saving heart care. It will ensure no kid is left behind because of a lack of money or hospital space.