ISLAMABAD: Minister for National Health Services (NHS) Abdul Qadir Patel has taken notice of the alleged use of infected syringes at Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) and warned that criminal proceedings would be initiated against the hospital management if the allegation was proved.

Speaking to media at the inauguration of a dispensary at Kohsar Complex, which houses a number of ministries, he said a pregnant woman died and two others developed criticalconditions afterbeing administered infected injections at the hospital.

`It is unfortunate that during the tenure of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), autonomy was given to Pims due to which it went out of the ambit of the ministry. Pims was converted into a Medical Teaching Institution(MTI) and is being run by a board of governors (BoG),` he said.

The minister said if the allegation was proved, doctors and the board will be held responsible and criminal proceedings will be initiated against them.

`We give respect to human lives and any negligence in this regard will not be tolerated,` he said.

Meanwhile, the health ministry in a letter to the Pims management statedthatithadbeenbroughtinto the knowledge of the ministry that a patient had died in the gynae ward of Pims allegedly due to the use of infected syringe/drug reaction and two other patients were in serious condition.

`The matter appears to be gross negligence on the part of Pims. The incidents speak volumes about inefficiency and incompetence of responsible individuals and also lil(ely to cause embarrassment for the government. In case of any negligence on the part of the hospital,the responsibility needs to be fixed on most immediate basis and the responsible individual(s) need to be dealt with severity,` it stated.

The hospital management has been directed to furnish a report within 24 hours.

Speaking about another controversy, Mr Patel said his ministry had written a letter to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government asking it to pay for the health cards of five million people of the erstwhile federally administered tribal areas (Fata).

He said the KP government had tried to play with the letter and alleged that the federal government had refused to pay for the health cards of the people of erstwhile Fata.

`The fact is that former prime minister Imran Khan had signed a letter in March this year to hand over the health card programme of the erstwhile Fata to the KP government.

`We have mentioned in the let-ter that Imran Khan had given approvaltoit on the request ofthe provincial government as he wanted to use the decision for a political mileage for the KP government,` he said.

About the inauguration of the dispensary, the minister said in February last year a government employee died in a ministry after heart attack as health facility was not available in the complex.

`Now in case of any incident, first aid will be provided to a patient here before they are shifted to hospital,` Mr Patel said.

Meanwhile, chairing a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on National Health Services, Senator Dr Humayun Mohmand expressed annoyance overthe performance of the Islamabad Health Regulatory Authority (IHRA).

He said he runs a clinic in the federal capital but till date no one had bothered to visit the clinicfor its inspection.