Punjab has launched its first fully equipped mobile hospital unit for livestock treatment. Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif inaugurated the facility Thursday.
The chief minister inspected the mobile veterinary dispensary, laboratory and X-ray unit. She also directed officials to arrange a livestock conference and approved the design of a model veterinary hospital.
Officials briefed the chief minister that 30 additional mobile veterinary dispensaries and 17 mobile veterinary laboratories have been launched. A total of 2,206 mobile veterinary hospitals are now operating across Punjab.
Each mobile unit is equipped with ultrasound and X-ray facilities, along with laboratories capable of conducting 40 tests on-site, including disease screening and surveillance.
Provincial Minister for Livestock Ashiq Hussain Kirmani and Secretary Livestock Ahmed Aziz Tarar briefed the chief minister on the project. Ten divisional hospitals will be equipped with X-ray facilities, while operation theaters and laboratories will be established in 36 districts. A total of 138 ultrasound machines will also be installed across tehsils.
Veterinary assistants will use 6,964 mobile motorcycles to reach farmers' camps and provide livestock treatment. More than 1,000 interns have already treated 3.4 million animals under the Chief Minister's Internship Program.
Punjab will establish a model veterinary hospital in every tehsil and will also build and renovate 230 veterinary hospitals. These hospitals will include cattle crushes, mechanical crushes, horse crushes, hydraulic operating tables and modern lighting in their operation theaters.
The province also plans to carry out artificial culling of 800,000 animals to increase milk and meat production. Punjab has also successfully eliminated lumpy skin disease through effective vaccination campaigns.
