LAHORE: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday launched the Naya Pakistan Health Card scheme providing the annual health insurance cover of Rs 1 million to all residents of Punjab.
“This is a landmark. This is a defining moment towards our course to make Pakistan a welfare state,” the prime minister said while addressing the launching ceremony in Lahore.
وزیراعظم عمران خان آج پنجاب میں نیا پاکستان صحت کارڈ پروگرام کا اجراء کریں گے. #صحت_کارڈ_سب_کیلیے pic.twitter.com/lGk4ocnaek
— Prime Minister’s Office, Pakistan (@PakPMO) December 13, 2021
He said starting from January 2022, the Sehat Card would be distributed across the province within three months allowing whole of the Punjab population to avail free medical treatment worth Rs 1 million a year at both government and private hospitals.
The premier announced that a total of Rs440 billion would be spent on health insurance over a course of three years under the programme. However, he said, “this is not just about health insurance. This is about setting up a health system.”
PM Imran further said the difficulties faced by his family for treatment of her cancer patient mother, had prompted him to think of introducing a universal health insurance facility for the whole population so that no one had to sell out belongings for the medical treatment of their dear one.
He said three months of his mother’s illness was an ordeal from Allah for his whole family. “The health insurance cover would give the families a confidence to get treated their ailing family members which otherwise was unaffordable for many,” he added.
The prime minister pointed out that the initiative would encourage the private sector to invest in establishing hospitals in villages and remote areas, where there were only hospitals.
“There is a lack of doctors in those areas, but now the private sector would invest in constructing hospitals in the poorest of areas as everyone will be able to [pay for medical] treatment through health cards,” he explained.
He apprised the audience that despite the discouraging notions about the feasibility of Shaukat Khanum Hospital, 75% of percent patients were getting free medical treatment. “The hospital which was built at cost of Rs 700 million now spending Rs10 billion for treating the patients,” he added.
Similarly, he said despite immense pressure from the opposition for a blanket lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic, he opposed the idea just fearing the sufferings of the daily wagers and vendors.
He said unfortunately the elite class never thought of the poor people while suggesting the lockdown. He said owing to the resource and systemic constraints, Pakistan could also not afford supplying food to every household as China did in Wuhan.
The prime minister said now Pakistan was being cited as a country which had effectively maintained balance between lives and livelihood, just owing to Allah’s blessing and the prayers of the poor people. He told the gathering that the Punjab government would spend Rs 440 billion in three years for the health insurance facility to the people.
Addressing the gathering earlier, Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar said the provincial government prioritized the heath sector by allocating Rs 399 billion budget against Rs 169 billion by the previous government.
He said the scheme had already been launched in Dera Ghazi Khan and Sahiwal but within three months, 115 million people would get the facility across all districts. He said during last three years, Punjab government had built 25 hospitals and nine by the Social Security Department.
