Chief Minister Punjab Chaudhry Parvez Elahi has written a letter to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for the payment of health card dues.
In a meeting presided over by Chief Minister Parvez Elahi, it was said that the federal government has to pay Rs7.5 billion for the health card program. The CM said that Punjab has paid 100% towards the health card dues while the federal government has not given a single rupee for this public welfare project. He noted that the Punjab government was providing facilities for the free treatment of patients in Azad Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan and Islamabad on the health card.
CM Parvez Elahi said that the health card is the flagship program of chairman PTI Imran Khan and all citizens of Punjab can avail of this facility whenever and wherever they want. The health coverage was being provided to the whole population of Punjab without discrimination, he added. In Punjab, 821 hospitals including 206 government and 615 private hospitals are providing free treatment on the health card; 80,000 beds are available in the hospitals and more than 2.8 million people have benefited from the health card program of Punjab. Dialysis, cardiology and other diseases can be treated under the health card program, he further said. Moonis Elahi was also present. A detailed briefing was given about the health card program.
Provincial Health Minister Dr Yasmin Rashid, Finance Minister Mohsin Leghari, Chief Secretary Abdullah Khan Sumbal, Finance Secretary Wasif Khurshid, Secretary Specialized Healthcare and Medical Education Ahmad Javed Qazi, Chief Executive Officer PHIMC and others attended the meeting. Also, Chief Minister Elahi paid tributes to the volunteers on the occasion of international volunteer day, declaring that those who serve humanity are valuable and appreciable.
In his message, the CM stated that volunteers who fulfill their religious and moral duty to assist others are the heroes of every society. Serving people, without reward or praise, is worthy of imitation; he maintained and added that this day is an occasion to reemphasize the passion for helping others in times of need and trial. Individuals like Abdul Sattar Edhi and Dr Ruth Pfau have set glowing examples of volunteering around the world and I salute the socio religious organizations that provide pro bono services during floods, earthquakes and disasters, the CM concluded.
Separately, on the direction of Chief Minister Elahi, community emergency response teams’ challenges were organized on the International Volunteer Day (Dec 5), and five thousand community emergency response teams were established in all union councils of the province. The CM welcomed the participation of the Sri Lankan team and commended the training of 125,000 rescue scouts, terming them a national asset. An online community-safety training will be given to the individuals joining the rescue cadet corps (RCC) as volunteers organized by the Punjab Emergency Service Department. A certificate will be given on the successful completion of the training. Those who wish to perform voluntary services in their areas can join the RCC by downloading the app.
Also, Chairperson of Child Protection & Welfare Bureau (CPWB) Sarah Ahmad called on Chief Minister Elahi at his office and presented the Global Collaborative Award to the CM. She briefed the CM about the role of the bureau in the welfare of the children. The CM felicitated her for receiving the award in Italy and expressed his happiness that chairperson CPWB was placed among the top ten people for the global award. He directed to make CPWB more vibrant and expressed best wishes for the chairperson and the children.
