CM announces Rs5 billion more for stroke care in Punjab

Key Points:

Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif announces Rs5 billion in additional funds for stroke treatment on World Stroke Day.
Stroke centre, cardiac centre, paediatric centre and cancer hospital to be set up at every divisional headquarters.
Forty stroke centres working in Punjab; 15 more primary stroke centres to be built.
Heart transplant surgery to start soon at the Jinnah Institute of Cardiology.
World’s largest cancer hospital being built in Lahore with free treatment for the poor.
Rescue 1122 has shifted 85 stroke patients to stroke centres in time and saved their lives, the chief minister says.

LAHORE: Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif on Thursday announced Rs5 billion in additional funds for stroke treatment and a stroke centre at every divisional headquarters across Punjab, officials said.

She made the announcements while addressing a ceremony held at the Punjab Institute of Neurosciences (PINZ) in Lahore to mark World Stroke Day. She said no stroke patient’s treatment would be stopped for lack of funds in Punjab.

She said the funding needs for stroke treatment should be reported directly to her. She said she would ensure that no patient was denied treatment for want of money.

The Chief Minister also announced that every divisional headquarters would get a stroke centre, a cardiac centre, a paediatric centre and a cancer hospital.

She announced that heart transplant surgery would start soon at the Jinnah Institute of Cardiology.

Stroke centres network

Health Minister Khawaja Salman Rafique said 40 stroke centres had been built across Punjab, including 38 primary stroke centres and two comprehensive stroke centres.

The chief minister said 40 primary stroke centres were operational and 15 more would be built. She said stroke treatment was under way at PINZ and General Hospital, the Rawalpindi Institute of Cardiology and Shaikh Zayed Hospital.

She said the service was also being started at Holy Family Hospital Rawalpindi and at hospitals in Multan and Faisalabad.

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Golden hours and Rescue 1122

She said stroke struck suddenly and the first four to five hours after an attack were the golden hours for treatment. High blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease and high cholesterol could cause a stroke, she added.

She urged people not to ignore the symptoms of stroke. A patient showing weakness in an arm or slurred speech should be taken to a stroke centre at once or help should be sought by calling 1122, she said.

She said Rescue 1122 had shifted 85 stroke patients to stroke centres in time and saved their lives. She congratulated the service’s Dr Rizwan and his team for the timely transfers.

The chief minister said the TNK injection given to stroke patients was very expensive and cost between Rs300,000 and Rs400,000. An ordinary person could not afford it, she said.

She said a stroke patient was not the only one affected, as the whole family suffered when the earning member was confined to bed.

Visit to PINZ

Earlier, the chief minister visited the PINZ intensive care unit and control room and watched neurosurgeries from the operation theatre gallery. She also visited patients in the intensive care unit, encouraged them and prayed for their recovery.

She observed the rehabilitation of stroke patients through robotic physiotherapy at the institute.

PINZ neurology in-charge Dr Qasim Bashir and Executive Director Dr Asif Bashir briefed her on the primary stroke centre, the stroke neuro-intervention fellowship, the stroke awareness programme and neuro-rehabilitation.

Mr Rafique said 2.6 million dialysis procedures and 2,400 cardiac surgeries had also been performed in the province. He said Punjab was being made a hub of medical excellence under the chief minister’s leadership.

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Cancer hospital and cath labs

She said the world’s largest cancer hospital was being built in Lahore, where the poor would be treated free of charge. She directed its early completion and the start of treatment there.

She said a pain management centre would also be set up at the hospital for patients in the last stage of the disease.

She said state-of-the-art cath labs would be set up in 20 districts and eight to nine districts already had them.

She said a paediatric centre would be built in every division so that parents did not have to bring their children to Lahore for treatment.

She said specialised diseases, including genetic and blood disorders, would be treated at the Nawaz Sharif Medical District.

She said 100 million people had received treatment at government hospitals in one year and free medicines worth Rs100 billion had been given. She said cardiac surgery had been performed on 15,000 to 16,000 children, including children from other provinces.

She said no child coming from outside Punjab was refused treatment. Thousands of people had benefited from expensive procedures such as kidney and liver transplants, she said.

She said field hospitals were treating people at their doorsteps and workers at factories, so that a labourer’s daily wage was not lost.

She cited the case of a 42-year-old driver who recovered after timely treatment of a stroke attack. She said a woman injured in a fall from a roof in Mianwali was brought to Lahore by air ambulance for treatment.

She congratulated Dr Asif Bashir and Dr Qasim Bashir, Health Minister Khawaja Salman Rafique, Minister Khawaja Imran Nazir, Secretary Azmat Mahmood and Nadia Saqib on making stroke treatment accessible to the common man.