PESHAWAR: Provincial Health Minister Syed Qasim Ali Shah on Tuesday announced the reactivation of free health services under the Health Card Plus initiative for the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He made this statement while addressing a press conference here in the Information Cell at the Civil Secretariat. Minister Syed Qasim Ali Shah said the Health Card initiative started in 2015 and initially covered four districts of the province.
By 2020, the scheme had expanded to the entire province with an annual expenditure of 18 billion rupees. The Minister of Health together with the General Director of the Sehat Sahulat program Dr. Riaz Tanoli and program director Dr. Ijazem provided an update on ongoing efforts.
Lauding the successful implementation of health card services in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Minister Shah said that 1,800 different medical procedures are now available free of charge in 118 public and private hospitals providing various specialties across the province. He pointed out that by Tuesday noon, a substantial amount of ten million rupees had already been spent to admit seven hundred patients.
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This reflects the fulfillment of Ex. A vision of Prime Minister Imran Khan that has been rejuvenated and currently an average of three billion rupees is spent on the Health Card every month. Further, Minister Shah announced the re-opening of health card counters in hospitals, with the government allocating an additional 5 billion rupees to the insurance company for this purpose.
He disclosed that the abolition of the Health Card by the previous government during its tenure adversely affected the economically disadvantaged citizens. Qasim Shah emphasized that the Health Card is not a temporary but a long-term project. Under the leadership of Chief Minister Ali Ameen Gandapur, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will witness new horizons of development.
The Ministry of Health has released a list of hospitals available on the Health Card Program panel, which provides free treatment facilities at 118 hospitals. He assured that current challenges, including over-billing and irregularities, are being addressed by curbing some operational procedures in government hospitals. The number of hospitals participating in the Health Card program has decreased to less than 180 from more than 180.
