Cancer patients from Islamabad, AJK, G-B to get Rs1m free medicines each

Under public-private partnership, 741 patients to benefit in first phase on first-come, first-served basis

As many as 741 cancer patients from Islamabad, Azad Kashmir, and Gilgit-Baltistan will receive free medicines worth nearly Rs10 million each in the first phase of a five-year public-private partnership initiative.

The Ministry of National Health Services signed an agreement on Friday with multinational pharmaceutical company Roche to provide the medicines. Under the arrangement, the Government of Pakistan will contribute Rs1 million per patient, while Roche will cover the remaining Rs9 million.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Federal Health Secretary Hamed Yaqoob Sheikh said that patients from Islamabad, Azad Kashmir, and Gilgit-Baltistan would benefit from the initiative. He added that the partnership will run for five years, during which thousands of cancer patients are expected to receive treatment.

Federal Health Minister Mustafa Kamal said the facility would be available at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) for eligible patients from the three regions. He noted that 13 million Pakistanis have fallen below the poverty line due to illness, while cancer treatment alone costs nearly Rs9.8 million per patient over a five-year period.

The minister added that patients suffering from lung, liver, and breast cancer would be treated under the initiative. He emphasised that healthcare reform includes both disease treatment and prevention, including the provision of clean drinking water, and credited the prime minister’s leadership for ongoing improvements in the health sector. He stated that cancer devastates entire families, and that this initiative aims to ease the financial and emotional burden on patients across the country.