Chitral Times Report
PESHAWAR: Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Mahmood formally launched the third phase of the extension of Sehat Card Plus Scheme to the entire population of the province in an event held here on Friday. Under the third phase the scheme has been extended to the 100 percent population of six districts including Peshawar, Mardan, Charsadda, Swabi, Nowshera and Haripur. With the completion of the third phase of extension, 14.00 million populations of these districts will get free medical treatment facilities in the enlisted public and private sector hospitals. It may well be recalled hare that in the first two phases of extension, Sehat Card Plus has been provided to the entire population of Hazara and Malakand regions.
Addressing the launching ceremony as chief guest, the Chief Minister termed the Sehat Card Plus Scheme as a flagship program and pro poor initiative of the present government and said that the extension of the scheme to the entire population of the province was an important step towards Prime Minister Imran Khan’s vision of welfare state adding that Sehat Card Plus Scheme is a pro poor initiative in the true sense which ensures the provision of free treatment facilities to all the peoples of the province without any discrimination. Mahmood khan said that by the end of January 2021, the scheme would be rolled out to the cent percent population of the entire province adding that the government is spending around 18.00 billion rupees on the scheme annually. He said that the scheme had already been extended to the 100 percent population of the newly merged districts but with lesser coverage of Rs.600,000 per household per annum. He announced that from the new financial year the annual coverage of Rs. 600,000 for merged districts would also be increased to One million rupees to bring it at par with that of the settled districts. Mahmood Khan stated that in the larger interest of the people of the province, the provincial government had decided to get kidney and liver transplants covered under the Sehat Card Scheme. “Sehat Card Plus is Scheme not only meant for free treatment facilities rather it is a complete package of social protection”, the Chief Minister remarked and added that besides providing free treatment facilities to the public, the scheme will also help reduce poverty ratio in the province and improve living standard of the people. Besides provincial cabinet members and government functionaries, the event was attended by parliamentarians and media persons in large number.
Earlier, addressing the launching ceremony, provincial minister for health Taimur Saleem Jhagra told that with the extension of the scheme to the entire population of Malakand and Hazara regions, admissions of patients in government hospitals of Malakand and Hazara regions has increased manifold.
