Caretaker Federal Minister for Health Services, Dr Nadeem Jan here on Friday said that the government was strengthening primary healthcare hospitals by equipping them with all modern medical and surgical equipments to facilitate the patients of rural areas of the country including Khyber Pakthunkhwa. He expressed these views after inaugurating a community health centre near Tangi Hospital. Speaking on the occasion, the minister said that reforms in the health sector were the top priority of the existing government and solid measures were being taken to increase healthcare facilities in all public sector hospitals in the country. The minister said that an inclusive and integrated strategy had been formulated to strengthen the primary health care system to reduce the load on hospitals in big cities of Pakistan including Peshawar. He said that about 500 basic primary healthcare hospitals would be equipped with all necessary equipment including X-Rays, ultrasound, ambulances, labs and other diagnostic services in the next two months. He said that the community healthcare centre Tangi would be made state-of-the art where all modern healthcare services would be available for patients. The Minister said with expansion in the building of Tangi Hospital, a modern cardiology unit and cath lab would also be established where latest facilities would be ensured for patients of heart related diseases. He said that solid efforts were being made to completely equip these primary healthcare hospitals by January next year with financial assistance of donors and philanthropists. Dr Nadeem Jan said that 400 hospitals would be solarized in the country including Khyber Pakthunkhwa and practical work on it would commence from the first month of 2024. He said solarization of hospitals was aimed to provide 24/7 healthcare services to patients and uninterrupted power supply to healthcare units. Great responsibilities rest on the shoulders of elders of the area to educate people about the significance of polio’s eradication and reproductive health programs in KP, he said and added that polio was a crippling disease and vaccination was the best option to protect children from permanent disabilities. He urged the parents and guardians to vaccinate their children imperative to win the fight against polio. He said that the aim of these healthcare initiatives was to strengthen healthcare services at tehsil, village and union council levels for facilitation of rural population.