Govt to extend Sehat Sahulat Programme coverage

Dr Sultan says all citizens of Islamabad, Punjab, G-B to benefit from ‘Quami Sehat card’

ISLAMABAD:

The government extended the ‘Sehat Sahulat Programme’ to the entire population of the federal capital, Punjab and Gilgit-Baltistan, while the process had been started for the procurement of insurance companies for the year 2022-25 to implement the flagship project.

Dr Faisal Sultan, the special assistant to the prime minister on national health services (SAPM), told a ceremony in Islamabad that under the ‘Sehat Sahulat Programme’ and the ‘Quami Sehat Card’, the government would issue health cards to all citizens of Islamabad and all districts of Punjab and G-B.

“The objective to extend the programme is to serve the deserving people, with the goal of a prosperous and healthy nation along with achieving universal health coverage,” Dr Sutlan, the de facto health minister of the country, said.

“The ministry of national health services along with the government of Punjab has started the process for the procurement of insurance companies for the year 2022-25 to implement the ‘Sehat Sahulat Programme’ as per the directives of Prime Minister Imran Khan,” he added.

The SAPM revealed that the procurement process for Phase-III of the programme concluded on Thursday with the “financial opening of proposals” in the presence of the evaluation committee, media representatives and other dignitaries.

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“Today is the financial opening day and after this the contract will be awarded to the selected insurance company for the next three years to carry out this huge task of universal health insurance in Pakistan,” SAPM Sultan added.

So far, the ‘Sehat Sahulat Programme’ and the ‘Quami Sehat Card’ covered all the permanent residents of the newly-merged tribal districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Tharparker district of Sindh, the entire Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) besides the persons with permanent disability and the transgender people.

According to Dr Sultan, the projects will be expanded gradually from December 31, 2021, to all the permanent residents of the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT), Punjab and G-B. “This programme is 100% funded by the government of Pakistan and the participating provincial governments,” he added.

Dr Sultan expressed the hope that Balochistan and Sindh would also join the universal health insurance in near future to materialise “our dream of national universal health insurance by providing the Quami Sehat Card to each and every citizen of Pakistan”.

The ‘Sehat Sahulat Programme’, is the flagship programme of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government, launched on the directives of Prime Minister Imran Khan. The programme envisaged support to the people in case of catastrophic healthcare expenditure.