- Well being Card prolonged to ICT, AJK and Gilgit-Baltistan.
- PM vows clear implementation by way of third-party monitoring.
- Round 70 hospitals to be empanelled nationwide.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday revived and prolonged the Well being Card programme to Islamabad, Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and Gilgit-Baltistan (GB), reaffirming the federal authorities’s dedication to offering high quality healthcare as a elementary proper for each citizen, no matter social or financial standing.
Addressing the ceremony, the premier stated the initiative marked one other main step in direction of delivering healthcare amenities at folks’s doorsteps.
Recalling the launch of the scheme in 2016 underneath the management of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, he stated the programme was later expanded quickly throughout provinces. He burdened that nothing was extra precious in life than well being.
“If there may be well being, there may be training; if there may be well being, there may be dignified employment; if there may be well being, there may be progress in each discipline of life,” he remarked.
PM Shehbaz stated whereas prosperous segments of society may afford costly therapy anyplace on the planet, the true check of the state lay in defending the poor, widows, orphans and every day wage earners who struggled to make ends meet.
“If a labourer falls sick and leaves this world with out therapy, his kids are left in everlasting darkness. Healthcare is the proper of each Pakistani — whether or not a primary minister or a avenue vendor,” he stated.
Congratulating Federal Well being Minister Mustafa Kamal, the secretary well being and their complete workforce, the prime minister urged clear implementation by way of third-party monitoring to make sure therapy was offered on the proper amenities and with acceptable requirements.
He expressed confidence that trustworthy execution of the programme wouldn’t solely serve the folks but in addition convey reward on this world and the hereafter.
Expressing hope for swift and efficient implementation, the prime minister stated the programme could be personally monitored by way of visits and inspections in collaboration with Islamabad’s well being management, parliamentarians, the chief minister of Gilgit-Baltistan and the premier of AJK.
Responding to a requirement to increase the programme to Sindh, he termed the proposal legitimate and warranted that he would personally take up the matter with the chief minister of Sindh.
He famous that the programme was progressing quickly in Punjab, with billions of rupees being spent on healthcare, and congratulated the Punjab authorities on its efforts. He added that whereas different provinces had their very own well being initiatives, efforts could be made to make sure related amenities nationwide.
Earlier, Mustafa Kamal stated the revived programme would supply free, cashless healthcare to just about 10 million residents of Islamabad Capital Territory, Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan.
He stated the programme ensured residents may obtain therapy with out worrying about affordability throughout moments of ache and misery.
Sharing operational particulars, Kamal stated round 70 hospitals have been being empanelled underneath the Prime Minister’s Well being Card throughout Islamabad, AJK and Gilgit-Baltistan, together with 20 extra hospitals in Islamabad alone.
He added that cardholders from these areas dwelling in Karachi would additionally be capable to entry therapy at 16 designated hospitals within the metropolis.
He famous that Sindh remained the one province the place the Prime Minister’s Well being Card was not but operational, whereas Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan and the federal territories have been already coated.
Referring to earlier proposals, he stated a plan overlaying 10 rural and concrete districts of Sindh at an estimated value of Rs24 billion had been ready.
“If funding is offered for simply two years, the programme can change into self-sustaining from the third yr onward,” he stated, expressing hope that healthcare deprivation in Sindh may be addressed.
