PESHAWAR: Chief Minister Pervez Khattak here on Tuesday launched a health insurance scheme under the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa “Sehat Sahulat Programme” for the deserving and poor patients in the province.

The programme, initiated with the financial and technical assistance of the German government’s development bank, Kreditanstalt fur Wiederaufbau (KFW), will ensure provision of health cards to the needy poor who will be able to receive medical assistance of up to Rs25,000 per person annually.

The health cards would be awarded initially in four districts, including Malakand, Kohat, Mardan and Chitral, and then the programme would be expanded to the whole province, announced the chief minister while addressing as chief guest at its inaugural ceremony.

The programme is funded by the German govt

He said that the initiative was first of its kind in the whole country and it was also a major step of the provincial government towards changing Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

He said that his government would continue to support such innovative programmes and extend the programme to all districts of the province so as to achieve the goal of universal health coverage.

Mr Khattak urged the KfW to consider extension of eight million euro Tuberculosis Control Programme which had successfully covered 100% drug needs of 200,000 TB patients over the last five years.

Ambassador of Germany Ms Ina Lepel, health minister Shahram Tarakai, Pakistan-based director of KfW, chairperson of State Life Insurance and secretary health also spoke on the occasion.

The chief minister criticised the irresponsible attitude of the health sector’s public servants and disclosed that all 57 staff members of a Mardan-based hospital were found absent from duty during a visit of a minister. He said that the elements who had adopted such behaviour towards public services were not doing justice with the motherland nor were they serving the ailing humanity for which they were being paid.

Mr Khattak appreciated the assistance of German government for the programme and hoped that it would continue cooperation to improve the state of health in the province. On this occasion, he also handed over the first health insurance card to a deserving patient.

Published in Dawn, December 16th, 2015