Lahore, September 16, 2024 – The Punjab government has launched the ‘Chief Minister Children Heart Surgery Programme,’ offering free treatment and surgeries for children with heart conditions. The initiative, named “Maryam Ki Masihaai,” aims to provide life-saving medical care to over 5,000 children annually.
Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz inaugurated the programme and distributed ‘Child Surgery Cards’ to eligible families. If public hospitals are unable to accommodate patients, surgeries will be arranged at selected private hospitals to ensure timely treatment.
In the first phase, pediatric heart surgeries will be provided at six public hospitals, including the Punjab Institute of Cardiology (PIC) and Children’s Hospital in Lahore, as well as hospitals in Multan, Faisalabad, and Rawalpindi. The second phase will expand services to hospitals in Wazirabad, Dera Ghazi Khan, Bahawalpur, and Sargodha. An online dashboard will also be created to monitor the programme’s progress.
Speaking at the launch, Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz expressed her deep emotional connection to the initiative, stating that she feels more like a mother than a politician. She empathized with the pain of mothers who lose their children, emphasizing that the programme is a heartfelt effort to bring relief to suffering families and save young lives.
The programme will also be extended to children from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and other provinces. During the briefing, it was revealed that the lack of timely heart surgery facilities had previously led to the deaths of around 5,000 children annually, underscoring the critical need for this initiative.
