LAHORE: After the provincial cabinet, the board of directors of PHIMC has approved the implementation of the Chief Minister’s Special Initiative for Cancer Patients, the Chief Minister’s Special Initiative for the Stroke Management Program and the Chief Minister’s Adult Cardiac Surgery Program. All these important decisions were taken in the 105th meeting of the Board of Directors of the Punjab Health Initiative Management Company under the chairmanship of Provincial Health Minister Khawaja Salman Rafique. The meeting was attended by Secretary Specialized Healthcare and Medical Education Department Azmat Mehmud through video link. Dr. Adnan Khan, CEO Punjab Healthcare Commission Dr. Saqib Aziz and Additional Secretary Finance Khurram Aziz participated through video link. The meeting was also attended by CEO Punjab Health Initiative Management Company Dr. Ali Razaq, Dr. Zahid Pervez, Dr. Shujaat Ali, Parveen Agha, Member Health P&D Shafaat Ali, Director PITB Nosheen Fayyaz and other officers. The meeting expressed satisfaction over the performance of the Chief Minister’s Children’s Heart Surgery Program, the Chief Minister’s Special Initiative for Transplant Program and the Chief Minister’s Dialysis Program launched by Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif. The meeting also appreciated the performance of the Punjab Health Initiative Management Company and the efforts of the board members. Various agendas of PHIMC were presented in the meeting. A detailed briefing was given in the meeting regarding various projects in the health sector of the Chief Minister of Punjab. The implementation report on the decisions of the 104th meeting was also reviewed in the meeting. The meeting approved the TORs/job descriptions of the Manager Research and Development and Research Officer. The meeting also approved the minutes of the 104th meeting. Provincial Health Minister Khawaja Salman Rafique said that historic and fundamental steps are being taken in the health sector under the leadership of Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif. Under the Chief Minister’s Special Initiative for Cancer Patients, free diagnosis, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, surgical and medical therapy facilities will be provided to cancer patients every year at a cost of Rs 13 billion. Under the Chief Minister’s Special Initiative for Stroke Management, free treatment facilities worth more than Rs 1.2 billion will be provided to stroke patients every year. Khawaja Salman Rafique further said on this occasion that the Chief Minister’s Special Initiative for Stroke Management Program will be helpful in saving the lives of thousands of stroke patients. Under the Chief Minister’s Adult Cardiac Surgery Program, free treatment facilities worth Rs 3 billion will be provided to heart disease patients every year. The Punjab Health Minister said that we are striving to provide the best health facilities to the public. Under the Chief Minister’s Children’s Heart Surgery Program, so far, more than 9,648 innocent children have undergone free heart surgeries across the province at a cost of billions of rupees. Under the Chief Minister’s Children’s Heart Surgery Program, so far, 391 children from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 234 from Azad Kashmir, 101 from Islamabad, 28 from Balochistan, 31 from Gilgit-Baltistan and 25 from Sindh have undergone free cardiac surgeries. Under the Chief Minister’s Special Initiative for Transplant Program, so far, 1,151 transplants have been performed, including 613 renal transplants, 315 cochlear, 185 liver, 16 bone marrow and 22 corneal transplants, completely free of cost. So far, more than 1.226 million patients have been given dialysis completely free of cost under the Chief Minister’s Dialysis Program and more than 33,092 thousand patients have been registered in hospitals for dialysis under the Chief Minister’s Dialysis Program. Salman said that all resources are being utilized to provide the best health facilities to the people of Punjab. Secretary, Department of Specialized Healthcare and Medical Education Azmat Mahmood said that maximum facilities should be provided to patients in the empanelled hospitals. Instructions have been given to resolve the problems faced by patients in the empanelled hospitals on priority basis. Copyright Business Recorder, 2026