ISLAMABAD:
Federal Minister for National Health Syed Mustafa Kamal announced the resumption of Sehat Sahulat Health Facilitation Program after years of inactivity in the federal capital to provide quality care and free treatment to the people.
The Sehat Sahulat program has been launched in 42 hospitals in the twin cities, where deserving patients will get free treatment. The program was restarted initially for two years and in the third year, efforts will be made to provide free OPD services. He also met patients during his visit to Akbar Niazi Teaching Hospital.
Mustafa Kamal explained that real-time data on patients’ treatment and expenses was collected to ensure that the Sehat Sahulat program was implemented equitably. He said if any hospital was found to be violating the rules and regulations established under the program or encouraging corruption, it would be immediately delisted.
He said the population of the federation has crossed 3.5 million, while a large number of patients are arriving at Islamabad hospitals from Azad Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan, Rawalpindi and other neighboring areas for treatment. He noted that the influx of patients from various cities was overwhelming the services available in public and private hospitals.
He added that according to a World Health Organization (WHO) report, 13 million people in Pakistan are now living below the poverty line, while Rs 2 billion was spent on treating patients in the last five months alone.
He also added that the total health budget of the federation and provinces stands at Rs1.156 billion, but despite this, the patient satisfaction rate remained below 10 percent. He said for these reasons and more, it had become necessary to carry out intervention in the health sector.
He added that a comprehensive study on universal health coverage found that basic health facilities can be provided with a budget of Rs210 billion, but this would require 5,000 additional hospitals across the country. He said universal health coverage is a system of the future and most countries are already following this model.
While making the announcement, Mustafa Kamal thanked Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif and said that he accepted the government’s proposal in public interest, which helped revive the Sehat Sahulat program after many years. He expressed his determination by promising that the government will continue to take all possible measures for reforms, transparency and provision of quality medical facilities to the public.
