LAHORE: Chief Minister Punjab Maryam Nawaz Sharif on Monday inaugurated a mobile health programme comprising 65 units to provide medical services to industrial workers and their families at their workplaces and doorsteps.
The initiative will initially cover Lahore, Kasur and Sheikhupura, benefiting more than 4.6 million industrial workers and their family members. The government aims to extend the programme to Gujranwala, Sialkot, Gujrat, Faisalabad, Sargodha, Sahiwal, Multan, Muzaffargarh, Dera Ghazi Khan, Bahawalpur, Rahim Yar Khan and Rawalpindi by March 2027.
The programme includes 10 mobile hospitals, five mobile clinics, dedicated dental and cardiac units, 40 motorcycles and 10 scooters. The motorcycle and scooter teams will provide basic medical assistance, first aid, essential medicines and health awareness services to workers and their families.
The mobile hospitals will be equipped with outpatient departments, diagnostic facilities, X-ray and ultrasound services, basic laboratories and medical staff, including doctors, female doctors, radiologists, nurses and laboratory and X-ray technicians. The mobile clinics will also offer telemedicine facilities, while the dental units will provide dental examinations and treatment.
During her visit to the Nawaz Sharif Social Security Hospital, CM Punjab inspected the mobile hospitals, dental unit, motorcycles and scooters and received a briefing on the medicines and medical equipment available. She also visited the outpatient department and the Rehmatul-lil-Alameen Cardiac Centre, where she interacted with patients and inquired about their health.
Officials briefed the Chief Minister on a mobile rheumatic heart disease screening initiative, which will cover 29,845 factories, industrial establishments and other workplaces in Lahore, Sheikhupura and Kasur. The mobile units will also be deployed to screen around 54,000 children enrolled in workers’ welfare schools across Punjab for heart conditions.
According to the briefing, the field operations of all mobile health units will be connected to a digital hub at the Punjab Employees Social Security Institution (PESSI) headquarters to enable real-time monitoring of their routes and activities.
Speaking on the occasion, the chief minister said the province’s 24 social security hospitals were providing treatment and medicines to more than 10 million industrial workers and their family members. The mobile health programme would facilitate early diagnosis and treatment while reducing the burden on hospitals, she added.
She said 250 medical outlets under PESSI would also provide healthcare services to workers across the province.
The Chief Minister said the programme was intended to ensure that registered workers could access quality healthcare at their workplaces, while their families would receive medical services closer to home. “Wherever there is a factory, commercial establishment or industrial unit employing workers, social security mobile health units will be available,” she said.
The initiative marks an expansion of workplace-based healthcare under the provincial social security system, with a focus on improving access to medical services for registered workers and their dependants.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026