ISLAMABAD: Federal Health Minister Mustafa Kamal has said that the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) hospital will not be privatized. He told reporters that public hospitals are the only option for poor people to get treatment.
“There is no plan to run Pims through a public-private partnership,” he said after visiting the hospital. The minister also spoke about the health card, which is no longer working for people in Islamabad, Azad Jammu Kashmir, and Gilgit Baltistan. He promised to look into this soon.
Kamal said working in health is hard because it deals with people’s lives. He asked doctors to greet patients with a smile. He shared that he has been in politics for over 20 years, first as a Member of the Provincial Assembly in Sindh and later as Karachi’s mayor. He said roads and schools can be fixed over time, but health is different because there are no second chances if someone dies.
When asked, Kamal said people come to hospitals in pain or with serious problems. He noted that rich people can go to private hospitals, but poor people rely on public ones. He wants patients to leave Pims feeling good about the staff and his work.
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He admitted that treating every patient is tough because so many people visit the hospital. To help, he plans to start telemedicine, which could handle 70 percent of patients remotely. He also promised better equipment for the hospital’s operation rooms.
Last year, there were talks about outsourcing some services at Pims, like lab tests, but hospital workers opposed it, fearing privatization.
Health Secretary Iftikhar Ali Shallawani had said the ministry wanted to work with private groups to make things better and cheaper for the poor.
Documents show that in March 2024, Dr. Malik Mukhtar Ahmad Bharath, now a state minister, visited Pims and asked for plans to outsource diagnostic services and add new features like an evening clinic.
Punjab to Outsource More Health Units
In other news, Punjab will outsource 20 more Basic Health Units (BHUs) in Rawalpindi starting April 8. This follows the outsourcing of seven BHUs in February.
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By June 1, these 20 units will become “Maryam Nawaz Clinics.” Patients will get free treatment for things like fever, flu, and women’s health issues, paid for by the government.
There are 98 BHUs in Rawalpindi district in total. The 20 new outsourced units are spread across areas like Dhoke Parh, Gujar Khan, Kallar Syedan, Kotli Sattian, Murree, and Kahuta.
