RAWALPINDI: Punjab Minister for Health Dr Yasmin Rashid on Thursday said distribution of health cards would start in 36 districts of the province on Feb 22 and complete by the end of the year.

Speaking at a press conference at the Rawalpindi Arts Council (RAC), she said the government was committed to providing facilities to each and every citizen and would distribute 7.2 million health insurance cards to the needy across the province.

Rawalpindi Medical University (RMU) Vice Chancellor Professor Dr Mohammad Umar, Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) Chairman Arif Abbasi, MPAs Chaudhry Adnan, Raja Sagheer, Farrah Agha, Latasab Satti, Shameem Aftab and Nasreen Tariq were also present.

The minister said nobody knew how and when the previous government had distributed health cards.

Needy people in Rawalpindi will get cards in April, minister says

“According to a report, 41,000 people availed of the health cards in 17 districts during the previous government but the PML-N government failed to pay the premium on the health insurance cards and it remained unutilised,” she said.

She said the distribution of cards would start from the backward areas of south Punjab, including Rajanpur, D.G. Khan, Muzafargarh and Multan.

Deserving people in Rawalpindi will be given the cards in April, she said.

The card distribution would start from Rajanpur on Feb 22 and a total of 800,000 cards would be provided to people there till the end of March.

The holders of the cards would be able to get medical treatment for seven diseases from public and private hospitals, including cardiology and neurology.

“The government has set a target of distributing 7.2 million cards till Dec 31 and 30.5 million people would benefit from the scheme,” she added.

The minister said under the directives of Prime Minister Imran Khan, efforts were being made to provide quality healthcare services to the citizens. She said 40 per cent people in the country were below the poverty line and the PTI government was trying to provide them basic necessities of life.

She said the healthcare system of the province faced numerous problems because of the apathy of the past governments towards the health sector.

To a question about healthcare facilities for the ruling class, the minister said Pervez Musharraf and Nawaz Sharif should get medical treatment within the country.

“I always preferred medical treatment in government hospitals. My children were born at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital and I preferred to get eye and knee surgery in Lahore,” she said.

In reply to another question, she said the Rawalpindi Institute of Urology (RIU) would be made functional as soon as possible.

She said all liabilities of the under-construction hospital and other health projects were being cleared besides allocating more funds to complete projects in the health sector.

“There were Rs200 million liabilities of RIU and contractors refused to work further without clearing their dues. We will clear the dues and allocate more funds in the next budget for the completion of the hospital.”

She said the provincial government already had cleared Rs3 billion as the previous government had issued cheques which bounced because there was no money in the accounts.

About the removal of Benazir Bhutto Hospital (BBH) medical superintendent Dr Tariq Niazi, the minister said he was suspended after he brought the matter on social media without informing his parent department.

“Dr Niazi was reinstated but not reappointed as the medical superintendent because an inquiry is underway to ascertain how his telephonic conversation with law minister Raja Basharat was leaked,” she said.

Criticising the Young Doctors Association (YDA) for its protests, she said the government was providing Rs40,000 more to each doctors as compared to other government officials. She said doctors working in teaching hospitals would also be awarded perks and privileges besides handsome salaries.

She said when she was transferred by former chief minister Shahbaz Sharif from Lahore to the BBH she was the president of Pakistan Medical Association but she never used the association against her transfer and joined the BBH.

The RMU vice chancellor said the government was launching a project to make Rawalpindi a hepatitis-free city.

“A drive in this regard will start from Ratta Amral union council No 1 during which a mobile team will conduct free of cost screening of the residents,” he said.

Published in Dawn, February 15th, 2019