INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed on Tuesday between Pakistan&s Lahore University and Afghanistan&s Ministry of Public Health
for ongoing support, both financially and technically, of the Mohammad Ali Jinnah Hospital in Kabul.This hospital, in the west of the
capital, has been supported by the Pakistan government for the past few years.The visiting delegation agreed on Tuesday to not only continue
providing the hospital with medical equipment but also turn the hospital into a training facility.Pakistan&s ambassador to Kabul, Mansoor
Ahmad Khan meanwhile said that the university would help run the hospital.&Afghan Minister of Public Health H.E
Qalandar Ebad and a team from University of Lahore signed a Letter of Understanding for assistance in running M
Jinnah Hospital Kabul and upgrade its facilities to make it a teaching hospital,& Ahmad Khan tweeted on Tuesday.He said: &The cost has not
been estimated yet because it is an ongoing project, but Lahore University provides monthly assistance with medical equipment, technical
equipment and training for the hospital&s doctors.&The IEA&s Ministry of Public Health welcomed the university&s move to increase the
hospital&s technical and human resources& capacity.However, Ebad said they did not sign the MoU with the ambassador of Pakistan to Kabul nor
with the Pakistan government
He said the MoU was with the university.&We didn&t sign this agreement with the ambassador of Pakistan but with the hospital delegation from
The delegation from Lahore wants to make the hospital professional, technical and capable,& Ebad said.In addition to improving the hospital
and its services, the university will also pay the salaries of staff and other expenses.
The non-payment of salaries over the past few
months has been a serious cause of concern for staff at the hospital.According to them, they have faced serious financial pressure due to
not having received salaries, which were paid by the former government
&We are asking the (new)
government to pay us our salaries because we are facing countless problems,& said Abdul Ghafoor, a health worker at
the hospital.According to the IEA officials, this type of cooperation will be extended to a number of other hospitals that were built and
supported by Pakistan in the last few years.The post Health ministry signs MoU with Lahore University to support Kabul hospital first
