PIMS developments a wake-up call for health sector: Khawaja Asif

Addressing the inauguration ceremony of a medical facility for workers and their families in Sialkot, Khawaja Asif said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had also taken notice of what happened at PIMS and expressed hope that the matter would produce some results. However, he stressed that the situation needed to be corrected.

The federal minister said the primary objective of a sector responsible for saving human lives should be to provide healthcare, but some elements had instead made filling their pockets and engaging in corruption their goal. He termed the situation a matter of concern for governments, the public and the relevant institutions.

Khawaja Asif said a corruption nexus still exists in the health sector and effective measures would have to be taken to break it. Referring to Punjab, he said the provincial government had focused on the health sector over the past two to two-and-a-half years, resulting in improvements in several areas.

However, he added that reforms were also needed in other parts of the country. The defence minister said he was discussing issues in the health sector because he was currently standing at a hospital, but the PIMS matter was not limited to one institution.

Instead, he said, it should serve as a matter of concern for governments, the public and everyone entrusted with authority and responsibilities. He also questioned the system for monitoring healthcare institutions, saying that in some cases, people who themselves owned medical colleges or hospitals had been part of regulatory bodies.

He questioned how effective oversight could be ensured if those responsible for monitoring the sector were themselves linked to business interests in the same field. Khawaja Asif said the registration and licensing of some hospitals had also remained under question for years.

He said some major hospitals had licences, but instead of focusing on providing healthcare facilities, earning money was increasingly becoming their priority. The federal minister said corruption was a cancer that had spread across the country and that it was the responsibility of governments to take action against it.

He also appreciated steps being taken against corruption in an organised manner in Punjab, saying information and data should first be collected before action was taken against those responsible.

Speaking about healthcare facilities in Sialkot, Khawaja Asif said there was a need for a quality medical institution for workers and their families because Sialkot had earned global recognition for its industry and exports. He expressed hope that the facility would become a centre for modern healthcare services in the coming days.

He said efforts were also being made to expand the cancer treatment facility in Gujranwala to Sialkot, while a unit would also be established for the rehabilitation of drug addicts. He said citizens would see further progress in these facilities over the next six months.

Khawaja Asif said both the provincial and federal governments were providing cooperation and funds for these projects. He added that the District Headquarters Hospital was being expanded, while a separate facility for cardiac treatment was also being established.

The defence minister said various institutions were being established in Sialkot for public convenience and the development process was continuing. However, he stressed that real improvement in the health sector would not be possible without eliminating corruption and establishing a transparent system.