Chairman CDA and Chief Commissioner Muhammad Ali Randhawa Muhammad Ali Randhawa on Monday chaired a meeting to discuss the launch of telemedicine services at Basic Health Units (BHUs) and Rural Health Centers (RHCs) in the federal capital’s territory.
The meeting, which was attended by senior officers including CDA Members, the Deputy Commissioner of ICT, the Executive Director of Capital Hospital, and other relevant officers, focused on expanding access to healthcare services for Islamabad’s residents.
During the meeting, a detailed briefing was given on the telemedicine initiative to be introduced for BHUs in Islamabad. The initiative is aimed at improving access to professional medical consultations, especially for patients who may not have immediate access to healthcare professionals.
The telemedicine services would enable the patients to consult doctors remotely, thus addressing the critical need for healthcare after regular hours.
Chairman Muhammad Ali Randhawa emphasized the importance of making healthcare services more accessible and efficient, especially during non-operating hours. He instructed the concerned to work out the budget for the introduction of telemedicine services at each BHU. He also directed to ensure that patients receive quality and continuous access to healthcare services.
It was decided to work out a road map for introducing telemedicine services as a pilot project at a few BHUs for the first six months in the first phase. It was also discussed to work out a comprehensive plan for the roll-out of telemedicine services across all BHUs in later phase.
Chairman CDA also stressed the urgency of improving primary healthcare access in Islamabad by introducing a program for the overhaul of Rural Health Centers (RHCs) and Basic Health Units (BHUs) to enhance the quality and access to services. The Chairman directed the development of a comprehensive business model for revenue generation for BHUs and RHCs. He stated that the revenue generated thus would be spent on the betterment of the BHUs infrastructure and improvement of health facilities.
Presiding over another meeting regarding geo-spatial land survey and encroachment issues CDA Chairman Randhawa directed that a centralized and unified planning approach should be adopted to address the issue of encroachment, violation of building laws and urban sprawl.
He emphasized the need for enhanced monitoring through drones with advanced tools for continuous surveillance of land use and urban development.
The meeting that was attended by the Member (Planning & Development), Member (Estate), Director General (Planning), and the Deputy Commissioner (DC) of CDA, Director (DMA) along with the senior officers from the concerned Wings and formations was briefed on the Geo-Spatial Technology project, an initiative aimed at addressing the issues of encroachment on CDA-acquired land, the unregulated growth of informal settlements, and the challenges posed by urban sprawl.
It was informed that the recent geo-spatial survey was carried out by CDA with the help of the latest technologies including satellite imagery provided by SUPARCO. The servery was done in key commercial areas, including important markets and commercial hubs of Islamabad, to identify encroachment, violations of building by laws and land use planning.
