Sehat Sahulat programme relaunched

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for National Health Syed Mustafa Kamal has announced the revival of the Sehat Sahulat Health Facilitation Programme in the federal capital after it remained inactive for years, saying the scheme will provide free treatment and better healthcare access to eligible patients.

According to the minister, the programme has been relaunched in 42 hospitals across Islamabad and Rawalpindi, where deserving patients will be entitled to free medical treatment. He said the scheme has initially been restored for a two-year period, while efforts would be made in the third year to extend free outpatient department services as well.

During a visit to Akbar Niazi Teaching Hospital, Kamal also met patients and said real-time data on treatment and related expenditures was being gathered to ensure the programme was being implemented fairly. He warned that any hospital found violating the rules and regulations of the scheme or facilitating corruption would be removed from the panel without delay.

Kamal said the population of the federal capital had exceeded 3.5 million, while hospitals in Islamabad were also receiving a large number of patients from Azad Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan, Rawalpindi and other nearby areas. He said this growing inflow was placing heavy pressure on both public and private healthcare facilities.

The minister said that, according to a World Health Organization report, 13 million people in Pakistan are now living below the poverty line. He added that Rs2 billion had been spent on treatment of patients during the last five months alone.

He further said the combined health budget of the federation and provinces stands at Rs1,156 billion, but patient satisfaction remains below 10 per cent. He said these and other factors had made intervention in the health sector necessary.

Kamal also referred to a comprehensive study on universal health coverage, saying it found that basic healthcare facilities could be provided within a budget of Rs210 billion, but that this would require 5,000 additional hospitals nationwide. He said universal health coverage represented the future of healthcare delivery and noted that many countries were already working under that model.

During the announcement, the minister thanked Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif and said he had accepted the government’s proposal in the public interest, leading to the reactivation of the Sehat Sahulat Programme after many years. He also said the government would continue pursuing reforms, transparency and better-quality medical services for the public.