Pakistan: Imran Khan government extends free healthcare to Islamabad and Punjab province
Low-income families will be provided with free of cost health services worth Rs1 million
Islamabad: Prime Minister Imran Khan witnessed the signing of agreement to extend a universal health coverage scheme to the province of Punjab and Islamabad Capital Territory. This is the first government-sponsored health insurance programme in Pakistan’s history.
The agreement was signed between the federal government, the provincial government of Punjab and State Life Insurance by Secretary National Health Services Regulations and Coordination Aamir Ashraf Khwaja, CEO Punjab Health Initiatives Management Company Ali Razaq and Chairman State Life Insurance’s Shoaib Javed Hussain.
Who can avail the health benefits?
The ‘Sehat Sahulat Programme’ covers all people living below poverty across Pakistan in Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Gilgit Baltistan.
Under this initiative, low-income families “will be provided with free of cost health insurance to secure indoor health care services worth Rs1 million per family per year” from selected hospitals across Pakistan.
The initiative would also cover people with disabilities in Islamabad, Punjab, AJK and GB, and also the members of the transgender community across Pakistan, who are registered with the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA). In August 2020, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa became the country’s first province to offer a universal health insurance programme for all its residents.
What health services can be availed?
The Rs1 million (US$5600) health coverage includes open heart surgeries, stent insertion, cancer treatment, neurosurgical procedures, burn treatment, accident management, dialysis, kidney transplant, intensive care management, deliveries and cesarean section surgery and other medical and surgical procedures.