QUETTA: Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Friday said the Balochistan government, led by Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti, would complete a five-year public welfare agenda aimed at improving healthcare services and uplifting underprivileged communities across the province.
Addressing a ceremony held at the Chief Minister Secretariat in Quetta for the inauguration of completed health sector projects, the Pakistan Peoples Party chairman said public-oriented politics and service to marginalised segments of society had always remained central to the party’s manifesto.
He described primary healthcare as the backbone of the health system and termed the operationalisation of 64 Basic Health Units (BHUs) in the province a “revolutionary step”.
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said an air ambulance service was an essential requirement for geographically vast Balochistan, adding that the facility would enable the transportation of patients from remote and mountainous areas lacking airstrips to major hospitals in Quetta and Karachi.
He said several development schemes inspired by the Sindh model had been launched in Balochistan and claimed the provincial government had completed record development work during the past two years.
The PPP chairman said the provincial administration had prepared 20 projects for inauguration, but the launches had been divided into two phases to ensure continuity in welfare initiatives. He said 11 projects were inaugurated during the current visit, while the remaining nine would be opened after Eid and the conclusion of the Gilgit-Baltistan election campaign.
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said the newly established trauma centre was equipped with intensive care and high dependency units and was the province’s first fully digital paperless public hospital offering free treatment.
He praised the restoration and activation of BHUs, saying such centres reduced pressure on tertiary hospitals while providing immediate relief to poor residents of remote areas.
Referring to the government’s collaboration with the ChildLife Foundation, he acknowledged that Balochistan faced major challenges regarding child mortality but said reforms in the healthcare system would soon produce positive results.
Drawing a comparison with Tharparkar, where child mortality rates were once among the highest in the country, Mr Bhutto-Zardari said consistent efforts and public participation had transformed the situation there and that the same successful model was now being implemented in Balochistan.
He said strengthening healthcare infrastructure in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was a national priority as developments in both provinces affected the entire country.
The PPP chairman also said the most effective response to “negative propaganda” against Pakistan and Balochistan was improved governance, public service delivery and completion of development projects.
He maintained that anti-state elements did not want to see progress in Balochistan, but added that sincere efforts and coordinated work by the provincial government and stakeholders would ultimately defeat such forces.
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari thanked Jaffar Khan Mandokhail, former chief minister Dr Abdul Malik Baloch, parliamentarians and party workers for their support.
