ISLAMABAD:
Federal Minister for National Health Syed Mustafa Kamal has announced the resumption of Sehat Sahulat Health Facilitation Program after several years of dormancy 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 has been initially revived for two years and in the third year efforts will be made to provide OPD services free of cost. 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 with fairness. He said if a hospital was found to be violating the rules and regulations of the program or inciting corruption, it will be immediately delisted.
He said the population of the federation has crossed 3.5 million while a large number of patients are coming to Islamabad hospitals from Azad Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan, Rawalpindi and other nearby areas for treatment. He noted that the influx of patients from different cities was overwhelming available services in both public and private hospitals.
He further said that according to a World Health Organization (WHO) report, 13 million people in Pakistan are now living below the poverty line, while Rs2 billion has been spent on treating patients in the last five months alone.
He also added that the total health budget of the federation and provinces is Rs1.156 billion, but despite this, patient satisfaction has remained below 10 percent. He said that for these reasons and more, it had become necessary to lead an intervention in the health sector.
He added that a comprehensive study on universal health coverage showed that basic health facilities can be provided under a budget of Rs.210 billion, but this would require 5,000 more hospitals across the country. He said universal health coverage is a system of the future and most countries are already following this model.
During his announcement, Mustafa Kamal thanked Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif and said that he accepted the government’s proposal in public interest, resulting in the reactivation of the Sehat Sahulat program after many years. He expressed his resolve by promising that the government will continue to take all possible steps for reforms, transparency and provision of quality medical facilities to the public.
