ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly’s Standing Committee on National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination (NHSR&C) Tuesday directed the Ministry of Health to furnish the five-year record of the Sehat Sahulat Programme, which is not available for the residents of the federal capital.

The meeting was chaired by Member National Assembly (MNA) Dr Mahesh Kumar and was attended by health ministry officials and the chief executive officer of the Federal Sehat Sahulat Programme (SSP).

Secretary Health Nadeem Mehbub informed the committee that the programme was halted in Islamabad and its residents were deprived of the facility.

It is worth mentioning that the residents of the federal capital are being denied benefits at the SSP counters established in the hospitals of the federal capital, however, residents of other provinces are getting free treatment in Islamabad.

Committee Chairman Dr Mahesh Kumar said that the programme was functional in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

He directed the ministry to submit the five-year record of the programme.

He also said that there were concerns regarding the programme in Tharparkar and there were also issues of the availability of human resources for the audit. He said that the committee will discuss the issue as a one-point agenda during the next meeting.

Earlier, MNA Shahram Khan Tarakai said that he was the provincial health minister when the programme was started in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).

However, SSP CEO Muhammad Arshad said that till 2023, it was the Universal Health Programme due to which people were getting treatment through Computerised National Identity Cards from all the licence-holding health facilities under health regulatory authorities.

“The programme is still functional in Punjab, Balochistan and KP. People are getting heart bypass facilities for only Rs400,000 as compared to Rs2.5 million from the private sector. We have practically nationalised the private hospitals,” he said.

MNA Azeem Lakhvi suggested that the programme should be functional across the country. It is worth mentioning that in April 2023, the Federal Health Ministry and National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) introduced the “Mera Sehat Card Mobile Application” to maximise healthcare accessibility for citizens.

Because of the app, 8.4 million individuals comprising 2.5 million families under universal coverage in Islamabad, Gilgit Baltistan (GB), Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and Tharparkar (Sindh) were to benefit but the facility could not be made available.

Following the introduction of universal health coverage under the Sehat Sahulat Programme in 2016, all permanent residents of Islamabad, AJK, GB and Tharparkar were availing essential healthcare services using their CNICs. An SMS service was rolled out to address eligibility inquiries for the general public.

Published in Dawn, March 5th, 2025