ISLAMABAD: The Prime Minister’s National Health Programme (PMNHP) was launched in Kotli district of Azad Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday.

Minister of State for National Health Services Saira Afzal Tarar, who launched the programme, said that the PMNHP would provide free healthcare services for the poorest of the poor in the area.

“We believe in taking concrete measures to remove the sufferings of the poor segment of society and do not rely on slogans,” she said, according to a statement issued by the ministry.

She said that health insurance had been a key aspect of the PML-N manifesto in its election campaign.

“This is the second district in AJK, after Muzaffarabad, where the programme has been launched to provide free indoor healthcare services for secondary and seven priority diseases to poor families in the district,” she said.

Under this programme, free medical treatment will be provided to more than 79,000 poor families.

Through this scheme more than 170,000 families had been enrolled and given health cards while another 4,000 beneficiaries treated in the programme’s panel hospitals, said Ms Tarar.

She said the programme would be launched in 23 districts of Pakistan by providing services to 3.2 million families who had been living below poverty line.

Published in Dawn, August 12th, 2016