Punjab Health Secretary Dr Ahmed Javed Qazi has said that a memorandum of understanding (MoU) will be signed with the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) to ensure 100 per cent certainty of identification of bodies in the government hospitals.
He chaired a meeting here on Tuesday to review measures for identification of unidentified bodies in the government hospitals. During the meeting, the officers gave briefing to the health secretary. The secretary said that along with the Health, Police and Home departments were also important stakeholders in identification of the bodies. Identifying any body was primary responsibility of the Police Department, he added.
He said that the Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB) had designed a software for identifying the dead bodies. After identification of bodies, the local government would start the process of their burial, he added. The meeting was informed that departments of Specialised Healthcare and Medical Education, and Primary and Secondary Healthcare had appointed focal persons for implementation of the MoU. After signing of the MoU, support would also be provided in medico-legal cases in the government hospitals of Punjab. Special Secretary Muhammad Usman, Additional Technical Secretary Dr. Hafiz Shahid Latif, Additional Secretary Shahida Farrukh, Deputy Technical Secretary, Mohammad Waqas and Ghulam Fareed from NADRA, Kamil Rizvi from PITB and Director, Prof Arif Rasheed from SIMS, Deputy Secretary Irshad from Home Department and Deputy Secretary Primary and Secondary Health Department Muzammal participated in the meeting.