PESHAWAR: Khyber Teaching Hospital (KTH), Medical Teaching Institution (MTI) has started free 24 hour out-door patient department (OPD) as well as start the first pediatric laparoscope facility while spine surgery was also started in the hospital. Addressing the inauguration ceremony at KTH on Friday Senior Minister for Health Shahram Khan Tarkai said that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Government especially focusing on Health sector to bring positive changes in hospitals and provide all the facilities to the public at their door step. Around 900 nursing staff were recruited in hospitals while around 1100 paramedical staff and 1,069 doctors were appointed in different hospitals of the province, he said, adding that the government will recruit around 2700 doctors in the coming years as these posts has already advertized through public service commission. The Health Minister said that the provincial government will provide all the equipment on public private partnership in the entire hospitals of the province. It was beyond the government to provide all the equipment but will check a through eye on the fee as the facility will be available on reasonable price to the public, he added. Tarakai said that the government has started Maternal Neonatal Health Care services as around Rs.2700 were paid to the pregnant women on successful delivery while health insurance scheme was also launched in the province as around 50% poor population will get free treatment from the hospitals. Earlier giving presentation on Spine Surgery Unit KTH, Dr Muhammad Ayaz Khan, a specialist in spine surgery, said that globally around 1.7 billion people were facing problem of back pain, adding that 60-90% patients experience back pain throughout their life. He further said that one in every five patients has TB disease in Sub-continent while 1-2% has spinal TB disease while 906 million people were victims of spine injuries, adding that spine tumor cases were also reported mostly in women. Dr Ayaz maintained that there was shortage of spine surgeon in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa while there is no data available with any centre of spine injuries, adding that in 2015 around 934 patients of spine injuries of KP were visited Lahore for treatment. He added that approximate surgery of spine injuries in private sector paid for degenerative surgery is Rs 50.000, for deformity Rs 300, 000 to 1,200,000 for Tumor surgery Rs 100, 000 to 300,000 while for Infection Rs 100, 000 to 300,000 were charging. He inform that the Unit still need equipment to provide the spine surgery to the patients on emergency basis as Spine OT table, Nero Monitor, Burr and Surgeon Light Source machines were required to the unit on emergency basis. Professor Dr Hamayun head of medicine department said that in Khyber Teaching Hospital we have good gastroenterologist and nephrologists but because of the lack of facilities we were facing immense problems, adding that there was no bed available in Intensive Care Unit of the hospital. Dr Inayat Ur Rehman head of pediatric laparoscope surgery unit said that the facility was started for the first time in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and with this facility they will operate children without huge surgery and operate them technically as not only the patients will soon recover while it will also secure time of the doctors. He added that around 50 to 60 patients of different surgeries they were operate in their unit and its result was 100 % secure and good for the patients. On the occasion hospital director Brig. (R) Dr Fazle Akbar Professor Dr Rohul Muqeem Medical Director of KTH, Board of Governor of KTH, senior professors and other faculty staff were also present.