ISLAMABAD - Managing Director Pakistan Bait-UL-Mal Aon Abbas Buppi on Monday said that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf-led government utilised around Rs5.879 billion for treatment of cancer patients across the country within 5 months through the PBM.
Abbas highlighted that the PTI-led central government had introduced austerity, transparency, efficiency and accessibility in the organisations to ensure the poor access to the social safety net. Highlighting the importance of World Cancer Day observed on Monday, he said, “We want to create a mass awareness about the health services provided by our institution to the poor segment of society who are not able to afford their expenditures. The needy persons can contact us through filling an online form available on the PBM website and we will respond within 21 days.”
In the health sector, the PBM is bearing full expenses for terminal diseases like cancer, hepatitis, heart diseases etc, he added.
In all big hospitals of the country, the PBM has opened special centres to help those people who seek financial assistance for medical treatment, he said.
The PBM head office and all its branches as well as district level offices across the country are interlinked through internet and this has been done to ensure complete transparency and increase efficiency of the organization, he added.
The MD Bait-ul-Mal said that the PBM within 10 years spent Rs6 billion on the treatment of around 61,000 patients belonging to different corners of the country. He said that the PTI-led government vowed bringing valuable changes in the lives of poor segments of society by extending optimum help to them.
The PBM has also launched a special awareness campaign on cancer with different regional language to educate people about this disease as country is witnessing a number of patients specially Chest cancer among female on rise, he mentioned. He said that the PBM was committed to provide free of cost cancer treatment to deserving people in country through merit. He believed that lack of awareness about cancers, their signs and symptoms, was one of the major causes of delayed presentation.
He said that awareness and education of masses was necessary to combat cancer, which is alarmingly increasing in the country.
“Beside role of government, healthcare bodies and other stakeholders, we as people and society can also play an important role for disease prevention,” he said.