- 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 the direction of delivering healthcare services at folks’s doorsteps.
Recalling the launch of the scheme in 2016 below the management of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, he stated the programme was later expanded quickly throughout provinces. He confused that nothing was extra invaluable in life than well being.
“If there’s well being, there’s schooling; if there’s well being, there’s dignified employment; if there’s well being, there’s progress in each subject of life,” he remarked.
PM Shehbaz stated whereas prosperous segments of society might afford costly therapy anyplace on the planet, the true take a look at 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 ailing and leaves this world with out therapy, his youngsters are left in everlasting darkness. Healthcare is the appropriate of each Pakistani — whether or not a major minister or a road vendor,” he stated.
Congratulating Federal Well being Minister Mustafa Kamal, the secretary well being and their whole workforce, the prime minister urged clear implementation by way of third-party monitoring to make sure therapy was offered on the proper services and with acceptable requirements.
He expressed confidence that trustworthy execution of the programme wouldn’t solely serve the folks but additionally convey reward on this world and the hereafter.
Expressing hope for swift and efficient implementation, the prime minister stated the programme can 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 can be made to make sure comparable services 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 might obtain therapy with out worrying about affordability throughout moments of ache and misery.
Sharing operational particulars, Kamal stated round 70 hospitals had been being empanelled below 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 residing in Karachi would additionally be capable of 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 had been already lined.
Referring to earlier proposals, he stated a plan masking 10 rural and concrete districts of Sindh at an estimated price of Rs24 billion had been ready.
“If funding is offered for simply two years, the programme can change into self-sustaining from the third 12 months onward,” he stated, expressing hope that healthcare deprivation in Sindh may be addressed.
