Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Ali Amin Khan Gandapur, has decided in principle to expand the free treatment facilities under the Sehat Card Scheme by including more public and private hospitals in the Sehat Card panel and directed the quarters concerned to immediately convene a meeting of the concerned policy board in order to accord final approval for the inclusion of hospitals meeting the quality standards of the Sehat Card Scheme. However, he made it clear that no compromise should be made on the laid down criteria for hospitals in this regard. Special attention should be given to the distance between hospitals and population, aiming to ensure that at least one hospital at tehsil level is on the panel of Sehat Card scheme, he directed.
He issued these directives, while chairing a meeting of the Health Department held here on Monday. The meeting was attended by Advisor to the Chief Minister on Health, Ehtesham Ali, Additional Chief Secretary Planning and Development, Ikramullah Khan, Secretary Health, Syed Adeel Shah, and senior officials from the Health Department and its subsidiary organizations, including the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Health Foundation and Sehat Card Plus.
The meeting thoroughly discussed, the empanelment of more hospitals under Sehat Card Scheme, outsourcing of hospitals in remote districts, reforms in the health sector, and other related matters. The meeting also reviewed the financial dues and other relevant matters of already outsourced public hospitals in certain districts of the province. The Chief Minister directed the Finance Department to immediately clear the dues to ensure the resumption of healthcare services in these hospitals as soon as possible.
In light of the provincial cabinet’s decision, the meeting also deliberated on outsourcing additional hospitals through the Health Foundation, directing the Health department to present proposals for outsourcing more hospitals under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model by next month.
It was decided in principle to simplify the existing complicated process of hospital outsourcing by making necessary amendments to relevant legal framework, further deciding to constitute a steering committee under the chairmanship of Chief Minister to streamline the entire process of outsourcing.
The meeting also decided, in principle, to provide free medicines to children suffering from hemophilia in collaboration with Roche Pharmaceuticals Company. The cost of these free medicines will be shared equally by the provincial government and Roche Pharmaceuticals Company.
Speaking at the meeting, the Chief Minister said that providing healthcare services at the local level to residents of remote areas is one of the priority areas of incumbent provincial government. To this end, efforts are being made to strengthen basic healthcare centers. The outsourcing of hospitals under the Public-Private Partnership model has resulted-in promising results, and the process will be further improved to ensure the provision of quality healthcare services to residents of far-flung areas, he added.
In addition to strengthening healthcare facilities at grass root level, efforts are underway to improve the services delivery mechanism under the Sehat Card Scheme and teaching hospitals, he said and expressed confidence that these initiatives would bring about visible change in the health sector in the near future.
