Sehat Card project given legal protection

Treatment of more diseases to be included: CM

PESHAWAR:

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Mahmood Khan said on Monday that ‘Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Universal Health Coverage Act 2022’ has been approved to give legal protection to the Sehat Card project.

CM Khan said that the provincial government is taking steps to include the treatment of more diseases under the Sehat Card, with the aim of providing maximum relief to the citizens so that they can spend their money on education and other necessities of life.

Khan has termed Sehat Card Plus a pro-poor and public-friendly scheme and said that Sehat Card Plus scheme is not only a comprehensive package of free medical facilities but also a social security program which is aimed at poverty alleviation. It is also helping to reduce the poverty rate and improve people’s quality of life.

According to the Chief Minister’s Secretariat on Monday, the chief minister said that Health Card Plus Pakistan is a revolutionary step of the provincial government of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf from which millions of people of K-P are benefiting without discrimination.

“Sehat Card Plus has not only received recognition at the national level but also at the international level,” said the CM.

According to details, admissions of one million and 58 thousand 797 patients have been made from January 2022 to November 30, 2022 under Health Card Plus, which has cost more than 25 billion rupees. During the same period, 73 kidney transplants and 49 liver transplants have been done at a cost of 10.2 million rupees and 19.9 million rupees respectively.

In addition, 47 thousand 679 cardiology, 146 thousand 840 general surgery, 124 thousand 328 gynecology, 142 thousand 615 medical, 16 thousand 340 neurosurgery, 52 thousand 481 orthopedic, 37 thousand 384 oncology, 42 thousand 914 urology, 3 thousand 388 cardiac surgery, one hundred 71 thousand 195 dialysis, 48 thousand 386 throat and 55 thousand 229 ophthalmology patients have been admitted.

It should be noted that more than 96 hundred thousand families of K-P are registered under the health card, which can get free treatment up to a million rupees per year.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 20^th, 2022.