Govt decides not to 'abolish' Health Ministry

ISLAMABAD: The government has decided not to abolish the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulation and Coordination, ARY News reported citing sources.

According to sources, some departments under the ministry will be merged instead and the ministry will be right-sized.

Sources revealed that the ministry will coordinate with international organizations and provinces to improve healthcare services. The government is also considering transferring employees of merged departments to other departments.

The National Emergency Health Services will be merged with the National Health Institute and the Sheikh Zayed Hospital in Lahore will be handed over to the Punjab government, sources added.

Sources further said that the government is also considering handing over Rawalpindi’s under-construction hospital to the Punjab government. However, no decision has been made yet about the future of medical centers in Islamabad.

Some services in Islamabad’s hospitals will be outsourced. The Malaria Directorate will be made a part of the Common Management Unit, sources added. The government’s right-sizing committee has not yet finalized its report, which will cover five ministries, including the Ministry of National Health Services.

Earlier, PM Shehbaz decided to abolish five federal ministries and sought a plan from the relevant ministries.

They added that the relevant ministries had started working on providing recommendations as directed by PM Shehbaz to abolish the same.

The sources added that the decision to abolish the ministries was taken in line with the demands made by Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari who had been advocating for the abolition of certain federal ministries.