LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz on Wednesday launched the Community Health Inspectors Programme, a major preventive healthcare initiative under which 55,000 inspectors will be hired to provide basic medical services at the community level.
Speaking at the launching ceremony, the chief minister said her government prioritised proactive governance and preventive healthcare to address health challenges before they escalated. She said the programme aimed to reduce disease burden by ensuring early detection and timely intervention at the grassroots level.
Under the initiative, trained community health inspectors will conduct door-to-door visits to households across the province. Their responsibilities will include basic diagnostic services such as blood sugar testing, administering injections, and identifying individuals requiring further medical attention for referral to hospitals.
Ms Nawaz said the inspectors had undergone months of training to prepare them for fieldwork. She described the programme as a transformative step for Punjab’s healthcare system and said women would play a central role in its implementation. The chief minister added that the participation of women as community health inspectors would strengthen outreach and trust at the household level.
The programme also envisages the creation of a digital health profile for every household in Punjab. According to the chief minister, the digital system will help maintain comprehensive medical records, enable early diagnosis of diseases and facilitate referrals to relevant healthcare facilities where necessary. She said the initiative would allow the government to reach citizens directly, rather than requiring patients to travel to health centres for basic services.
The chief minister said that 25,000 individuals had already been provided employment under the programme, with plans to expand recruitment to a total of 55,000 inspectors. She said the inspectors would receive a monthly salary of Rs50,000, adding that performance-based incentives and salary increases would be considered for those demonstrating strong results in the field.
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Referring to broader health sector reforms, Ms Nawaz said the Punjab government had already provided medical treatment to nearly 30 million people through initiatives such as clinics-on-wheels and field hospitals. She said free medicines were being supplied to patients suffering from cancer and heart diseases.
Calling the community health inspectors her “eyes, ears and pride,” the CM said Punjab is becoming self-reliant across the sectors.https://t.co/fPnq0WG3QR
— Dawn.com (@dawn_com) January 8, 2026
The chief minister said cardiology institutes had been established in Sargodha, Sahiwal and Murree, while a catheterisation laboratory was operational in Jhelum. She added that similar facilities would soon be launched in Jhang as part of efforts to expand specialised healthcare services.
Reaffirming her administration’s commitment to public welfare, Ms Nawaz said the goal was to ensure that no patient visiting a government hospital faced hardship. She said the Community Health Inspectors Programme was a key component of the government’s strategy to strengthen primary healthcare and improve overall public health outcomes across Punjab.
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