LAHORE: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday launched the distribution of Naya Pakistan National Sehat Card for the entire Punjab, stating that each family would be eligible for medical treatment up to one million rupees per year under the universal health coverage programme.
Addressing the launching ceremony, the prime minister termed the national Sehat Card a “revolutionary step” and stated that neither everyone can take, nor any of the governments in the past took such a bold decision of providing Rs 1 million health insurance to the entire population.
The premier said that under the programme 30 million families would benefit from the health insurance facility which would cost Rs 400 billion to the government. “Our forefathers had dreamed to make Pakistan an Islamic welfare state but unfortunately it could not be developed on that course,” he added.
Citing Madina State as first welfare state which fulfilled all basic responsibilities of its citizens, PM Imran said unfortunately, no such state was found in the Muslim world rather the Scandinavian states were close to that model.
In a dig at the PML-N’s mantra of transforming Pakistan into an Asian Tiger, the premier stated, “Asian Tiger is nothing in comparison to the State of Madinah; we are attempting to put Pakistan on a path of prosperity.”
He stated that now that the government will not spend money on building hospitals because private individuals will build them instead. “We want to ensure that everyone in rural areas has access to health care, and by March 2022, all families in Punjab will have health cards,” he added.
He said all families across the province would get the Sehat Card by March and also resolved to replicate the model in Balochistan, Azad Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan.
The prime minister further said that the government would incentivize the private sector by allowing duty-free import of their equipment to expand the network of private hospitals.
He told the gathering that a silent revolution was in the making through the government’s initiative of housing construction loans by banks for the salaried class after the government removed all the impediments.
He said under Kamyab Pakistan Program, around 2 million people had been given interest-free loans for house building. Moreover, under the same program, a loan of Rs 0.5 million was also being given to the farmers and others to establish their own businesses. Earlier, the prime minister also distributed Sehat Cards among the beneficiaries.
