PESHAWAR: Sehat Card Plus, a social health protection initiative launched by the health department, has proved a groundbreaking move in Pakistan’s healthcare landscape as it contributes significantly to public health outcomes, but its long-term success depends on addressing administrative bottlenecks, managing workload, and ensuring process transparency, a research has found.

Dr Fawad Ahmed of Khyber Medical University, who defended his PhD thesis under an approved research project of Higher Education Commission of Pakistan’s National Research Programmes for Universities (NRPU), said he had conducted a thorough research on the SCP under supervision of Dr Haji Rahman, Dr Wali Rahman, Dr Mohammad Rafique and Saleem Shah.

He said the scheme launched in 2016 by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to provide free in-patient healthcare services, had benefitted 4.3m people at a cost of Rs103 billion so far. The beneficiaries included 52 per cent women and 48pc men.Dr Fawad said there had been a dramatic rise in hospital utilisation, particularly among poor, rural, and marginalised populations and has given financial protection to the recipients with significant reduction in out-of-pocket expenses.

More women underwent deliveries and gynaecological services that led to cut in mortality rate. He said his research project was aimed at presenting a policy document for the government and stakeholder institutions.

However, he added, the rising cost of the programme warranted steps to ensure its financial stability and in future co-financing mechanisms, adjusted premium rates, and diversified funding sources should be adopted.

Among challenges, it faces are that some hospitals compromised service quality, which required strict accreditation standards and third-party audits to maintain healthcare quality.

Published in Dawn, May 3rd, 2025