Govt announces Sehat Insaf Card scheme for Islamabad, GB

ISLAMABAD: Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health Dr Faisal Sultan on Wednesday presided over a meeting of the National Steering Committee and announced that the PTI government has decided to launch health cards for the permanent residents of Islamabad and Gilgit-Baltistan.

Speaking to the media after the meeting, Dr Faisal Sultan said that in Islamabad, more than 258,000 families will be able to benefit from the government's Sehat Insaf Card scheme launched under PTI's Sehat Sahulat Programme.

"Similarly, about 328,00 households in Gilgit Baltistan will be able to get free medical treatment through the heath card facility," Dr Sultan said. Under the scheme, the government has planned to provide health cards to 80 million poor people — or 10.5 million households — so that they could receive free medical treatment in private and public hospitals.

Previously, the government had announced that over the next two years, around 15 million people will receive the cards.

The SAPM said that in terms of healthcare services, the government plans to turn Islamabad into a model city.

He went on to say that the PTI-led government is working on bringing some major reforms to the health sector, adding that the scope of the Sehat Insaf Card scheme is being extended to the entire country. "The programme is currently underway in 96 districts of Pakistan," Dr Sultan said. "At present, about 16 million families are benefiting from the health card."

Speaking about the future course of action, Dr Sultan said that the cards will be issued to all permanent residents of seven districts of Punjab — Dera Ghazi Khan, Rajanpur, Layyah, Sahiwal, Pakpattan, Okara, and Muzaffargarh — within the next two months. Meanwhile, the remaining districts will get the cards by December 2021.