Children with heart conditions in Punjab will now receive free treatment and surgeries under the newly launched ‘Chief Minister Children Heart Surgery Programme,’ also known as “Maryam Ki Masihaai.” This initiative aims to provide medical care to over 5,000 children annually.
Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz officially inaugurated the program and distributed ‘Child Surgery Cards’ to beneficiaries. In cases where public hospitals are unable to accommodate patients, surgeries will be arranged at private hospitals.
During the first phase, heart surgery services will be available at six public and selected private hospitals, including the Punjab Institute of Cardiology (PIC) and Children’s Hospital in Lahore, as well as facilities in Multan, Faisalabad, and Rawalpindi. The second phase will expand the program to hospitals in Wazirabad, Dera Ghazi Khan, Bahawalpur, and Sargodha. An online dashboard will be introduced to monitor the progress of the Children’s Heart Surgery Programme.
Expressing her joy at the program’s launch, Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz stated that she feels more like a mother than a leader, empathizing with the pain of those who lose their children. She emphasized that these advanced heart surgery facilities are a heartfelt effort to alleviate the suffering of both children and their families.
The program will also extend its services to children from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and other provinces. During the briefing, it was highlighted that a lack of timely heart surgeries had previously resulted in the deaths of approximately 5,000 children each year.
