LAHORE: The Chief Minister’s Children’s Heart Surgery Programme is being expanded to include more hospitals, announced Provincial Health Minister Khawaja Salman Rafique during a meeting at the Punjab Health Initiative Management Company on Saturday.
The session was attended by Parliamentary Secretary Rushda Lodhi, Secretary of Specialized Healthcare and Medical Education Azmat Mahmood, Special Secretary Development Syed Wajid Ali Shah, Additional Secretaries Dr. Waheed Asghar and Dr. M. Waseem, Dr. Farqad Alamgir, CEO PHIMC Dr. Ali Razaq, and focal persons from empaneled private hospitals in Lahore. Representatives from the Institute of Cardiology Multan, the Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB), and other officials joined via video link.
Khawaja Salman Rafique reviewed the programme’s progress and emphasized improvements in coordination among the involved departments to ensure its success. He directed the PITB to promptly train private hospital staff in managing the programme’s online dashboard.
Since its inception, the programme has facilitated over 960 successful heart surgeries for children, significantly reducing the previously long waiting lists for such procedures. The health minister underscored the importance of maintaining high standards, stressing that negligence in the programme would not be tolerated. Private hospitals were urged to enhance their performance to accommodate more surgeries.
The initiative has also increased the capacity of government-run children’s hospitals in Punjab. Continuous monitoring of the programme is conducted via a live online dashboard, ensuring transparency across all stages.
Previously, families had to wait months for their children’s surgeries. Thanks to this programme, wait times have been drastically reduced, providing timely medical care to hundreds of children. The Punjab government remains committed to making this initiative a success, aiming to bring life-saving care to even more young patients.
