Sehat cards given to 7m families: CM

LAHORE: Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar has said Sehat Insaf cards have been distributed among 7.2 million families of the province.

While addressing the Sehat Insaf Cards distribution ceremony at Governor’s House for the districts of Gujrat, Mandi Bahauddin and Lahore, the chief minister said that despite financial problems government allocated Rs 277 billion for the health sector. As many as 28,000 appointments, 12,000 doctors, were made in the health sector.

He said that the programme of distributing Sehat Insaf Cards was launched from Rajanpur under the leadership of Imran Khan. He said that the process of distributing Sehat Insaf Cards was being completed by giving away the same to 129,000 of families of Gujrat, 86,000 of Mandi Bahauddin and 511,000 families of Lahore. Over the completion of a historic project like Sehat Insaf Card, Usman Buzdar thanked Allah Almighty. He said that whenever someone fell ill, the entire family suffered. Sehat Insaf Card will provide relief to millions of people from such kind of sufferings, he said.

The chief minister said that process of distributing Sehat Insaf Cards the families in 36 districts of Punjab had been completed as a result of which free-of-cost treatment facilities would be made available to 3.5 crore people of the province.

Differently-able people, journalists, employees, Ulema Ikram, Khateeb, students of seminaries, transgender and other segments of society can avail free-of-cost treatment facilities through Sehat Insaf Cards.

Usman Buzdar said that for the last 30 years no new general hospital was built in Lahore. Similarly, for the last 40 years, no new cardiac hospital was established in Lahore. The phase II of Punjab Institute of Cardiology and a 600-bed mother and child hospital in Ganga Ram will be established by the government, Usman Buzdar added.

He said the first of its kind and the largest public sector Punjab Institute of Blood Diseases and Bone Marrow Transplant Centre of Pakistan will be set up in Lahore. Children Hospital is being awarded the status of University of Children Diseases. A state-of-the-art emergency block has been constructed in Services Hospital. The expansion project of Punjab Institute of Mental Health has been completed. Usman Buzdar said that Wazirabad Institute of Cardiology had been made fully operational which had been closed for the last 10 years. He said setting up Children Hospital in Gujranwala was among the projects. The phase II of Nishter Hospital will be constructed besides expansion and upgrade of Multan Institute of Cardiology and Institute of Kidney Disease. Foundation stone of Dera Ghazi Khan Institute of Cardiology will be laid in the current month. He said that setting up an institute of urology and Punjab Institute of Cardio-Vascular Diseases in Rawalpindi was among the projects of the government. He maintained that work on Phase II of Sheikh Zaid Hospital Rahimyar Khan was about to start. Special hospitals for mother and child would be constructed in Rajanpur, Sialkot, Layyah, Mianwali, Attock and Bahawalnagar. New DHQ hospital would be set up in Chakwal. Funds of one billion rupees have been released for procuring 375 ambulances.

“Guidance of Prime Minister Imran Khan in the journey of development is commendable and we will move projects of public welfare ahead according to his vision,” CM concluded.