Lahore:
Punjab’s health care system has reportedly swung from universal coverage to widespread breakdown within only seven years, according to a new White Book that contrasts the Reform heavy period on PTI with what it calls PML-N.
Titled Healing Punjab: Healthcare Reforms, Venders and the Road to Improvement (2018-2025) is the report-co-author of former Health Minister Dr. Yasmin Rashid and researcher Shayan Bashir set to be revealed Monday.
It claims that PTI’s Reforms 2018-22 supplied Punjab’s strongest ever public health system, while subsequent returns have left millions of vulnerable since 2023, a collapse laid by this year’s devastating flooding.
Between 2018 and 2022, the PTI SEHAT SAHULAT card rolled out and provided health insurance of up to RS1 million annually to 29.3 million families.
More than 900 hospitals, including 654 private facilities, were empanated and government hospitals earned RS10 billion in 2021-22 through the scheme. According to the paper, 4.2 million families received treatment during the program, which enjoyed a 98% satisfaction.
The PTI government also recruited 33,000 health workers, upgraded 42 nursing schools and issued 200 anesthetics to district hospitals. Over 1,200 basic health units (BHUs) were converted to 24/7 facilities, six new mother and children’s hospitals were launched.
It said Pakistan Kidney and Liver Institute (PKLI) became Pakistan’s first JCI-accredited public hospital after performing more than 1,700 transplants, while preventive efforts raised immunization to 92% in 2021 with Punjab’s Covid-19 response, winning praise from WHO and international media.
In sharp contrast, the report accuses the PML-N government to run this system. The Sehat card was suspended in June 2025 and stripped 29 million families of health protection.
The private hospital network shrinked from 654 to 155, dialysis costs increased to RS5,500 per year. Session, and over 2,000 BHUs and RHCs were outsourced as “Maryam Nawaz clinics”, many of which reportedly lacked doctors or medicine. The dismissal of 12,500 Irmnch staff eroded additional front -line care.
Management error, the paper claims, elaborated the crisis.
The Auditor for Pakistan marked RS1 trillion in irregularities, RS43 billion in scams were found, and forged drugs infiltrated supply chains. Maternal mortality stagnated at 157 per 100,000 living births, while child immunization slid to 89%.
The floods of 2025, which expelled two million people, exposed this fragility. In the midst of cholera, dengue and malaria outbreaks, Punjab’s weakened system collapsed when citizens needed it most.
The authors call on decision makers to reintroduce and expand the SEHAT card, reverse outsourcing, rehire frontline staff, digitize purchasing and integrate climate insurance into healthcare. “Healthcare is disaster preparedness,” the report concludes. “Systems disassembled in quieter years collapse in crisis.”
