Staff Reporter
Peshawar
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government on Friday extended the Sehat Card Plus programme to 14 million more people of six districts of the province including Peshawar. A ceremony, in this regard was held here to mark the extension of the initiative to six new districts of the province where Chief Minister Mahmood Khan addressed the participants and said that the programme was being extended to Haripur, Swabi, Nowshera, Mardan, Charsadda and Peshawar.
As a result, 14 million populations of these districts would now get free health facilities on the basis of their national identity cards, the CM said, adding that it was a flagship programme of the present government towards accomplishment of the vision of the State of Madina. He said that the scheme had already been extended to merged districts of the province and they could get free health treatment up to one million rupees, adding that now kidney and liver transplant facility was also being included in the scheme in the larger interest of the poor people of the province.
He said the revolutionary health sector project was being extended to the whole province in phases and from January 31, 2021, 100 percent of the population could utilize free health facilities in the province. He further said that under Sehat Card Plus, all residents of the province will get free health facilities up to Rs1 million. In the first phase and second phase free health facilities were provided to the residents of Malakand and Hazara divisions.
He said that all the promises the present government had made with masses were being gradually fulfilled and its masses’ welfare-oriented initiatives and policies had started yielding results, the chief minister added.
After coming into power in 2013 and later regained power with two third majority in 2018 general elections, the PTI government had accorded highest priority to revamp the outdated healthcare system in KP by introducing scores of reforms and projects in public sector hospitals to provide quality and affordable health services to all in line with the vision of Prime Minister Imran Khan.
For the first time in the history of the province, full autonomy with complete authority in promotions, recruitments, equipment and accountability in health department and public sector hospitals was ensured as prior to 2013, there was no such autonomy and all recruitments, promotions, equipment and uplift programmes were decided by non-expert bureaucrats and politicians that made negative effects on health service delivery in the past.
