LAHORE: Punjab Health Minister Dr Yasmin Rashid says the outdoor healthcare services will also be included in the Naya Pakistan Qaumi Sehat Sahulat Card Programme, declaring that the government is considering inclusion of the services in the Sehat card.

She was speaking as a chief guest at a conference organised by the Pakistan Academy of Family Physicians at a local hotel on Saturday.

She said 98pc people had expressed satisfaction with the services provided through Sehat cards.

The conference was attended by Education Minister Dr Murad Raas, PMA Lahore President Prof Dr Ashraf Nizami, Dr Nadeem Khwaja, Prof Javed Chaudhry and a large number of doctors.

Ms Rashid said efforts were being made to provide healthcare services to the people and before the Sehat cards, people had to take expensive treatment at private hospitals.

“We are working on a model to facilitate general practitioners and all families of Punjab will be given cards till March 31.”

The health minister said no polio case was reported in the province in the one-and- a-half years.

Earlier, Dr Rashid and Special Assistant to Prime Minister Dr Faisal Sultan reviewed progress on development of a common dashboard for notifiable diseases and upgrade of health facilities in rural areas.

Health Department secretaries Imran Sikander Baloch and Ahmed Javed Qazi, Special Secretaries Saleha Saeed and others were present in the meeting held at the Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department.

Published in Dawn, February 13th, 2022