ISLAMABAD,:Minister for National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination Saira Afzal Tarar on Wednesday inaugurated the bone marrow transplant centre here at Islamabad Medical and Dental College (IMDC).

Addressing the inaugural ceremony, she said that present government on its part has accorded the top most priority to the health sector introducing policies and initiatives to improve access to health services and infrastructure.

She said that healthcare in Pakistan shows that healthcare facilities are inadequate and also the available healthcare facilities are over burdened while the remote areas have poor access to the facilities.

She added another important factor is persistently low population to hospital bed ratio. The private sector is expensive and out of pocket expenditure is 86 percent.

She said that one of the major issues is that most of the hospitals are concentrated in large cosmopolitans, whereas the population is rapidly growing.

There is an increase of burden of non-communicable and communicable diseases which needs enhanced treatment facilities.

The minister said recent addition of state-of-the-art 500 bed Akbar Khan Niazi Teaching Hospital is a laudable initiative. She expressed the hope that IMDC and Akbar Niazi Teaching Hospital will play a major role in the healthcare of public especially in Bhara Kahu, Murree and Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

Saira Tarar said that it is a matter of immense pleasure that IMDC is starting its Bone Marrow Transplant Centre, in collaboration with Cure to Children Foundation, Italy.

She congratulated the management of IMDC and assured fullest support of the ministry to this noble initiative.

She said that at present there are only a few Bone Marrow Transplant centres in the country which are insufficient to meet the country’s need.

She said the best strategy is to put in full efforts in the prevention of Thalassemia major. This can be done by public awareness of the disease, detection of thalassemia carriers especially in the thalassaemic families, genetic counseling of thalassemia carriers and pre-natal diagnosis of thalassemia major.

The minister also visited Akbar Niazi Teaching Hospital and inquired after the health of patients receiving treatment under Prime Minister National Health Programme.

Akbar Niazi Hospital is an empanelled Hospital of Prime Minister National Health Programme and providing free of cost treatment to enrolled families

The minister said Prime Minister National Health Programme is now being expanded to the entire country and enrolled patient in every district soon be able to get free treatment-APP.