Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday launched the Naya Pakistan Qaumi Sehat Card in Islamabad, and said that through this initiative, Pakistan would set an example for the world.
Through this Rs450 billion scheme, all families of Islamabad, Punjab, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan, and Tharparkar would be provided free medical treatment at government and private hospitals, Radio Pakistan reported. With this card, these families will be able to get healthcare facilities of up to Rs1 million for a year.
While addressing the launch ceremony, the prime minister said that Pakistan would be an example for the world to see what a welfare state looked like. “This will prove as a defining moment in the improvement of healthcare services in Pakistan,” he said.
He said that the healthcare system of the UK was the inspiration behind this initiative and he was confident that the programme would be even more successful than the one in the UK because it not only allowed the people to get treatment at government but at private hospitals as well. “Pakistan is the only country in the world to introduce such a unique ambitious programme of providing free health facility to its citizens,” he added.
He said that people in rural areas were unable to get quality healthcare facilities because doctors were not practising in those areas. “People go to cities like Islamabad and Rawalpindi from Mianwali for treatment because there are no doctors in the district hospitals,” he said.
He said that the working class would be able to get the facilities that were previously a privilege merely for the elite class.
Imran Khan also said that five mother and child care hospitals were being established by the government as the mortality rate during pregnancy was very high in Pakistan.
Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar, Special Assistant to PM on Health Faisal Sultan, Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Chaudhry Fawad and others were also present on the occasion.
PM Imran also took a dig at opponents and criticised former Punjab CM Shehbaz Sharif for going abroad for his monthly checkups. “The poor had no facilities while elites continue to benefit from the system,” he said.
Regarding CM Buzdar, the prime minister said that the opposition was running a campaign against the Punjab chief minister. “I have never seen a campaign like this against any CM ever,” he stated.
In defence of Buzdar, the prime minister mentioned a survey in which a majority of the people showed satisfaction with the performance of the Punjab CM. In response to this, Buzdar said the government had increased the health budget by 200 percent and by the end of March, all of Punjab would be able to benefit from the health card. Buzdar said 56 hospitals had been planned for the province to provide medical insurance facilities in 36 districts.
Dr. Faisal Sultan also addressed the ceremony and said that a revolution was taking place in the healthcare system of the country. He said the health insurance facility was being given to the citizens of the country for in-patient medical treatment of several diseases related to heart, cancer, neurological surgeries, accident, trauma and others.
He termed the health card a step towards the achievement of the goals of a socio-welfare state. He said that this initiative would be extended across the country, which would help the middle-class families.
