PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has decided to resume free organ transplants and cochlear implants on the Sehat Card Plus programme, disclose officials.

They said the free transplants were stopped by the caretaker government in early 2023 citing lack of funds as the reason.

The officials, however, said the PTI, which had pioneered the free health insurance initiative of SCP in the province, decided to resume it after resuming power.

Officials said that a decision had already been made not only for the resumption of liver and renal transplants but also about the extension of cashless services to the people requiring bone marrow transplant, free thalassaemia treatment and cochlear implants as those treatments were highly expensive and weren’t affordable for most people.

Officials say over 60 patients on waiting list for transplants, mostly for kidney

“The cabinet has already approved a summary regarding re-starting organ transplantation, while the department has again sent a summary to the chief minister to know if all the people could be included in the transplant programme or only those living below poverty line,” an official of the health department told Dawn.

He said the department had earlier proposed establishment of a Rs1 billion endowment fund to use its profit for transplanting organs to the patients.

The official, however, said the government released Rs100 million for the purpose last week but a go-ahead from the chief minister was still awaited.

The programme was launched in 2016 and has so far benefited over four million people at the cost of Rs102 billion. They also include 164 kidney and 64 liver transplants, with each costing Rs1.4 million and Rs5 million respectively, but halt to transplants left many patients high and dry.

The officials said more than 60 patients had been on the waiting list for transplants, mostly for kidney, with most having fulfilled requirements.

They said the health department had already negotiated agreements with the hospitals which would be signed once the CM accorded approval to the summary.

The officials said the department had finalised agreement for renal transplants with public sector Institute of Kidney Disease Peshawar and for thalassaemia treatment and cochlear implants with Hayatabad Medical Complex, whereas bone marrow and liver transplants would be available performed on eligible patients at Quaid-e-Azam International Hospital Islamabad as those facilities weren’t available in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

They said if the government approved the services for all patients, then they would be offered on the first-come first-served basis but in case the scheme was approved for poor people, only those listed as living below the poverty line as per the Benazir Income Support Programme would benefit.

Officials said that the Sehat Card Plus had been back on track as the State Life Insurance Corporation, which executed the scheme, received regular funds from the government as opposed to the caretaker’s time during which funds were cut drastically before being withheld altogether.

They said since the resumption of the programme on March 12, 2024, 960,000 patients had been treated at the cost of Rs30 billion.

The officials said the government had paid Rs34 billion since last year and the liability of the insurer which was Rs21 billion when the health insurance programme resumed which had fell to around Rs13 billion.

They said that the government wanted to continue the programme, so the insurance company was getting paid regularly.

The officials said of late, the health department had been giving priority to the public sector hospitals so they could earn from the programme and upgrade their services.

They said the entire population of the province was entitled to free services and they could also avail treatment in other provinces showing their national identity cards.

Published in Dawn, March 9th, 2025