Under this project, it is planned to construct five hundred Edhi Centres in order to cover a sizeable population on all highways and major link-roads of Pakistan in a properly phased fashion. The existing centres provide first aid to accident victims and arrange for their speedy transfer to the nearby hospitals. More-over, these centres are being used for providing medical facilities in rural and semi-urban areas.
Also they provide ambulance service at nominal charges, facility for vaccinating new-born babies and children against diseases, and other welfare services. The dispensary and mobile dispensary at each centre cater for medical assistance to approximately two hundred and fifty patients daily.
On completion of the proposed project each Centre will have three ambulances, a four-bedded emergency unit, a permanent dispensary and a mobile dispensary for field operations. All Centres will be linked with wireless sets. Each centre is estimated to cost Rs. One million giving a total project cost of Rs. Five hundred million. Work has started on this project and sixty permanent and one hundred and twenty five temporary centres have already started functioning.
Work is also underway to include the establishment of additional Edhi Homes for the destitute, dispensaries, centres for rehabilitation of heroin addicts, ambulance centres and rural welfare centres. Acquisition of additional ambulance aircraft’s is also in hand to provide a speedy service between these centres.
