Punjab took a major step forward in healthcare on Wednesday with the inauguration of free dialysis services at eight newly established centres across the State. Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr Balbir Singh launched these state-of-the-art facilities, ensuring that critical renal care is now accessible to thousands of patients without cost.    The new dialysis centres were launched at key government hospitals, including Mata Kaushalya Government Hospital in Patiala, where Dr Balbir personally inaugurated the facility. Simultaneously, centres in Amritsar, Malerkotla, Moga, Goniana, Fazilka, Faridkot, and Jalandhar were inaugurated virtually. These centres offer free dialysis services, eliminating one of the most significant financial burdens on patients with chronic kidney disease.   The establishment of these centres follows a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed earlier this year between the Punjab Government and the Hans Foundation. The Foundation has committed to provide the necessary dialysis machines, RO plants, trained medical personnel, and consumables to ensure the smooth functioning of these centres. Dr Balbir pointed out that the long-term goal is to expand these services to all government hospitals, ensuring every citizen has access to renal care.   Free dialysis services have the potential to be life-saving for many patients who previously struggled to afford the high costs of ongoing treatment, said Dr Balbir, noting that the eight initial centres have the capacity to treat thousands of patients, with plans to add more facilities in the future.   In addition to expanding dialysis services, the Health Minister also announced plans to upgrade district hospitals with emergency services, NICUs, and ICUs. He invited other NGOs to partner with the government in both the health and medical education sectors to further improve healthcare services across the state.   As part of the new dialysis initiative, 30 dialysis machines were inaugurated on Wednesday, with six allocated to Patiala, three each to the other centres, and one machine reserved for HIV-positive patients. With these new additions, Punjab now has dialysis services in 39 of its 41 sub-divisional hospitals and 23 district hospitals. The state government aims to expand this number to 64 hospitals in the coming months.

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