PM inaugurates revamped Pakistan-China Friendship Hospital, orders free care

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif inaugurated the revamped Pakistan-China Friendship Hospital, according to Associated Press of Pakistan and Business Recorder. He directed the health authorities to ensure that patients from across the country receive free, quality healthcare there.

The prime minister said public resources must be used to serve humanity and should not go to waste through institutional neglect, the reports said. He unveiled the inauguration plaque, toured various facilities in the hospital and addressed the ceremony, according to APP.

The Express Tribune reported that the government will bear 100 per cent of treatment costs for patients at the hospital. It said the revived hospital has 182 beds, including 50 intensive care unit beds.

According to the Express Tribune, the Indus Hospital and Health Network will manage the hospital under a public-private partnership arrangement, and the government will cover patients' treatment costs under that arrangement. The prime minister also ordered a third-party performance audit of the hospital.

The Express Tribune reported that China gifted the facility to Pakistan during the COVID-19 pandemic, but it remained non-operational for years after the pandemic ended. The prime minister took notice after reading a newspaper report about the prolonged closure and directed Federal Health Minister Syed Mustafa Kamal to take steps to restore it.

The paper also reported that the prime minister apologised to the Chinese ambassador and the Chinese people over the hospital's years of inactivity. Business Recorder said Mustafa Kamal briefed the prime minister at the event.

The hospital is expected to serve patients from Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Gilgit-Baltistan, Azad Jammu and Kashmir and other parts of the country, the Express Tribune said.