ISLAMABAD: The federal government will launch the Prime Minister National Health Programme in Muzaffarabad, which will provide free healthcare facilities to 83,000 families of four tehsils, living below the poverty line.
The Ministry of National Health Services (NHS) has requested Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to inaugurate the scheme in the AJK capital on February 12.
Secretary NHS Ayub Sheikh while talking to Dawn said that the ministry had finalised arrangements for the inauguration of the scheme but the date for the inaugural ceremony might be changed depending on the availability of the prime minister.
The scheme is likely to be inaugurated on 12th, depending on the availability of the prime minister
On December 31, 2015, the prime minister launched the scheme in Islamabad, describing it a first step towards making Pakistan a welfare state.
Addressing on the occasion, he said the scheme would be extended to Punjab, Balochistan, AJK and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata).
The people of Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, however, will not benefit from the initiative because their governments have declined to become part of the programme.
A family will get Rs50,000 for secondary care treatment which will begin as soon as a patient is hospitalised. It will cover all kinds of diseases, including pre- and post-natal care of a woman. Moreover, each family can get treatment of Rs250,000 under the category of priority diseases which includes cancer, accident, burn injuries, diabetic complications, heart bypass and infections. So each family can get treatment of Rs300,000 per year and that amount can be doubled in case of emergency and the amount will be contributed by the Pakistan Baitul Mal.
Director General Health Dr Asad Hafeez while talking to Dawn said an estimated 83,000 families of Muzaffarabad living below the poverty line would be benefited from the scheme.
“After Islamabad, Muzaffarabad will be the second district. Overall the programme will be launched in 23 districts of Pakistan and will be providing services to 3.2 million families who are living below the poverty line,” he said.
“As it is the first experience so we ran the programme for at least one month in Islamabad before launching it in Muzaffarabad. It was a kind of trial run to remove the deficiencies from the programme which is a totally new thing for Pakistan. I believe that now we are in a position to launch the programme in any other city,” he said.
“Distribution of health cards has been started. As most of the people frequently change their cellphone numbers, so we have their addresses to contact them. We have also asked the people to collect their cards because the facility cannot be provided without cards,” he said.
NHS Secretary Ayub Sheikh said though the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) had provided cell numbers of the selected people, only 40 per cent could be contacted. “We have started an SMS service and people can contact and get information about the status of their cards by sending a message on 8500,” he said.
“So far 140,000 people have contacted us through SMS service from all over the country. Out of them 18,000 were beneficiaries of the scheme and they were informed about the scheme and the status of their cards. In Muzaffarabad, so far 5,000 families have collected their cards,” he said.
“Though the scheme will be launched in Muzaffarabad within next 10 days, the process of cards distribution will be completed within next two months. After that we will go to Quetta,” he said.
While replying to a question about the success of programme in Islamabad, Mr Sheikh said so far 850 patients had received treatment under the scheme. Even a cardiac patient underwent a bypass surgery and the government bore all the expenses, he added.
Published in Dawn, February 7th, 2016
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