Sehat card initiative falls short of providing relief to poliovirus victims

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa has become the first province to introduce universal health coverage under the Sehat Card Plus Programme, offering families free treatment in different private and public sector hospitals. The programme, however, falls short of providing treatment to everyone.

The programme does not cover poliovirus victims who have developed permanent disability after contracting the virus.

“Artificial limbs are covered but those with muscle weaknesses and permanent paralysis after having been affected by poliovirus are excluded benefitting from the programme,” Shakeel Akhtar, a pharmacist at Khyber Teaching Hospital told The Express Tribune.

Akhtar, who has already written a letter to the director of the Sehat Sahulat Programme stated that those with permanent paralysis faced immense problems which need to be addressed.

“The government has been focusing on vaccinating children against the virus, but it also needs to focus on those already crippled for life,” Akhtar said, further adding that orthotics should also be covered in the universal health coverage.

Also Read: Sehat Sahulat Programme fails to achieve targets

In Sept 2020 it was reported that Sehat Sahulat Programme (SSP) in Punjab had failed to achieve the desired targets. Under this health facility scheme, Insaf Sehat Cards had been issued to five million families out of which only 93,000 people could benefit from this facility within the year, making the success rate 2%.

Under the SSP, the government overall aimed to provide health facilities to 32 million people in Punjab, which makes only 30 percent of the total population of the province. But this target could not be achieved.