Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif has announced an additional Rs5 billion for stroke treatment and said specialised care will be expanded across the province so patients are not forced to travel long distances for urgent help.
She made the pledge at a World Stroke Day event at the Punjab Institute of Neurosciences (PINS) in Lahore. She directed that no stroke patient should be refused treatment for want of money, and that officials should contact her directly if more funds are needed.
New centres and provincial network
Maryam Nawaz said the government would set up 15 additional stroke centres and build stroke, cardiac, paediatric and cancer facilities at every divisional headquarters. Provincial Health Minister Khawaja Salman Rafique said Punjab already has 40 stroke centres—38 primary and two comprehensive.
She noted that the TNK injection used in stroke care is unaffordable for many families, and that patients from distant districts such as Rahim Yar Khan face hardship travelling to Lahore. Local centres, she said, would bring timely care closer to home. PINS Executive Director Dr Asif Bashir and neurology head Dr Qasim Bashir are training doctors and nurses to strengthen stroke services, she added.
Why speed matters
The chief minister stressed that treatment within about four to five hours can greatly improve recovery. She urged anyone with sudden arm weakness or trouble speaking to seek help at once and call Rescue 1122. High blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease and high cholesterol were among the risk factors she listed.
She said Rescue 1122 had helped save 85 stroke patients by moving them to specialised centres in time, and praised rescue and medical teams. During her visit she toured the ICU and control room, watched neurosurgery from the theatre gallery, met patients and saw robotic physiotherapy used in stroke rehabilitation.
Wider healthcare plans
Heart transplant surgeries will begin soon at the Jinnah Institute of Cardiology, she said. Cardiac catheterisation laboratories are planned in 20 districts, with facilities already in eight or nine. A paediatric centre is planned in every division so families need not come to Lahore for specialised child care.
She also said a cancer hospital is being built in Lahore for free treatment of underprivileged patients, with a pain management centre for advanced-stage illness, and that specialised care for genetic and blood disorders is being developed at Nawaz Sharif Medical District. She cited Rs100 billion spent on free medicines, 100 million people treated in government hospitals over the past year, 15,000 to 16,000 children—including from other provinces—given cardiac surgery, and thousands helped through kidney, liver and other transplants. Field hospitals and factory-based care for industrial workers were part of efforts to take services closer to people, she said.
Aasan alfaaz mein
Punjab ki hukumat ne falej (stroke) ke ilaj ke liye mazeed 5 arab rupay diye hain. Nazdeeki stroke centres banenge taake door se Lahore na aana pade. Agar haath mein kamzori ya bolne mein mushkil ho to foran Rescue 1122 call karein—pehle 4–5 ghante bohot zaroori hote hain. Paisay na hone ki wajah se ilaj band nahi hona chahiye, CM ne kaha.
