PM Shehbaz Sharif takes a tour of various facilities in the newly inaugurated Pakistan China Friendship Hospital in Islamabad. PHOTO: EXPRESS
ISLAMABAD:
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday announced the government will bear 100 per cent of treatment costs for patients at the Pakistan-China Friendship Hospital, ensuring that no one is deprived of medical care because of financial constraints.
Inaugurating the revived 182-bed facility on Thursday, the prime minister stressed that public healthcare institutions must serve the people and provide quality medical services without placing a financial burden on patients.
The prime minister’s directive places free treatment at the centre of the hospital’s public service mission, offering relief to patients and families who struggle to afford medical expenses. Under the public-private partnership arrangement, the Indus Hospital and Health Network (IHHN) will manage the facility, while the government will bear the cost of patients’ treatment.
The prime minister also ordered a third-party performance audit to ensure transparency, accountability and high standards of healthcare delivery. He said public resources and medical infrastructure must be utilised effectively for the welfare of citizens, with the quality of services and institutional performance remaining key priorities.
Recalling the hospital’s history, the prime minister said China had gifted the facility to Pakistan during the COVID-19 pandemic, but it remained non-operational for years after the pandemic ended. He said he took immediate notice after reading a newspaper report about the hospital’s prolonged closure and directed Federal Minister for Health Syed Mustafa Kamal to take steps to restore the facility.
Expressing regret over the hospital’s years of inactivity, the prime minister apologised to the Chinese ambassador and the Chinese people, acknowledging that an important facility provided through China’s support had not been put to effective use. He stressed the need to ensure that the hospital now fulfils its intended purpose by providing healthcare services to the public.
The Pakistan-China Friendship Hospital has a capacity of 182 beds, including 50 intensive care unit (ICU) beds. The facility is expected to serve patients from Islamabad and Rawalpindi, as well as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Gilgit-Baltistan, Azad Jammu and Kashmir and other parts of the country. Its restoration is expected to expand access to medical services and help ease pressure on other healthcare facilities.
