Rs25b allocated for Sehat Card
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Chief Minister Mahmood Khan has said that in the current financial year budget the allocation for Sehat Card Plus has been increased from Rs20 billion to Rs25 billion while Rs10 billion will be spent on providing free medicine including OPD medicine for the first time in the province.
He said that the provincial government introduced massive reforms alongside development projects during last four years in all sectors including health as per the needs and aspirations of public which are yielding very positive results.
Sehat card scheme started on a limited scale by the previous government of PTI in the province, has been extended to cent percent population of the province by incumbent government under which more than 7.5 million families are availing free treatment of various diseases including liver and kidney transplants.
The chief minister further said that Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Universal Health Coverage Act 2022 has also been enacted to give legal cover and formalize mechanisms for oversight and management of the program.
In a statement issued here from the Chief Minister’s Secretariat, Mahmood Khan said that, in order to overcome the shortage of health staff in public sector hospitals, more than three thousand new doctors including specialists have been recruited in the last four years, adding that provision of quality health services has also been ensured through outsourcing of various services in hospitals under public private partnership.
During the last one year several projects have been completed in health sector.
Operationalisation of Peshawar Institute of Cardiology, construction of new OPD block at Khyber Teaching Hospital (KTH), construction of allied and surgical block at Lady Reading Hospital (LRH), Fountain House Peshawar, establishment of orthopedic and spine block in Hayatabad Medical Complex (HMC), upgradation of Bacha Khan Medical Complex (BKMC) Swabi to MTI, establishment of 200-bed Maternal and Child Hospital in Charsadda, construction of 120-bed new female block in DHQ Mardan are of vital of importance, he remarked.
Mahmood Khan mentioned that, progress is also being made on the establishment of four new tertiary care hospitals under public-private partnership in four different regions of the province and a comprehensive and workable model has been devised for this purpose.
Similarly, a project has been launched for revamping of all non-teaching district headquarters hospitals.
Moreover, a project for conversion of 200 basic health units (BHUs) and regional health centres (RHCs) to 24/7 facilities has also been planned.
Touching upon the achievements in newly merged districts, he said that 17 health facilities in merged districts have been outsourced with the aim to ensure provision of better health facilities to people at local level.
Similarly, Rs2 billion have been spent on the provision of medical equipment to health care facilities while Rs2.3billion have been spent on the provision of emergency medicine.
Mahmood Khan announced that four new medical colleges will be established in different districts during current financial year while three more hospitals will be given status of Medical Teaching Institution (MTI).
Published in The Express Tribune, September 11th, 2022.