ISLAMABAD: Federal Health Minister Mustafa Kamal on Tuesday informed a parliamentary committee that the health budget for the ongoing financial year had been reduced by 33pc compared to the last year’s allocations.

“Last year ministry’s budget was Rs21 billion, which has now been reduced to Rs14bn. No new projects have been initiated this year. Although 12 new projects were proposed but no funds were allocated for them, resulting in their halt,” he told the Senate committee on health.

The minister said all ongoing projects were being managed within the allocations of the approved budget.

The meeting of the committee was chaired by Senator Amir Waliuddin Chishti and attended by Senators Syed Masroor Ahsan, Mohammad Humayun Mohmand, Dilawar Khan, Anusha Rehman Ahmad Khan, Samina Mumtaz Zehri and Dr Zarqa Suharwardy Taimur along with concerned officials from the ministry.

12 new projects were proposed but no funds allocated for them, says minister

Senator Anusha Rehman emphasised the need to provide relief to taxpayers by introducing a comprehensive healthcare card to ensure accessible medical facilities for the public.

However, the minister said while the healthcare card facility existed in some provinces, it was not available in others. He said Sindh had also undertaken the responsibility of providing healthcare facilities in Tharparkar. Although the healthcare card system has not yet been introduced in Sindh, 16 hospitals in the province were already offering free medical treatment to the public.

Senator Anusha observed that there was merely a struggle for administrative positions within hospitals. She said it must be examined how doctors were occupying administrative posts. Doctors should be appointed for the care and treatment of patients, not for administrative roles, she added.

Senator Samina Mumtaz Zehri emphasised the need to address the attitude and behaviour of doctors and pointed out that medico-legal officers were often not present on duty. She said basic facilities were lacking in government hospitals.

Senator Mohammad Humayun Mohmand stated that renowned doctors were opposing the health card system as their consultation fees were extremely high. He added that more than half of the consultants do not attend duties regularly and suggested that Pims should be handed over to another administrative body given that six billion rupees were being allocated to it annually.

Discussing the shortage of doctors, minister Kamal said 22,000 doctors graduate every year in Pakistan, and a large number of female graduates do not continue medical practice after completing their degrees.

Medicine prices

The committee took up an agenda item regarding its direction issued to the ministry to submit a comprehensive report on medicine pricing, including details of hardship cases and new registrations, for consideration in the next meeting.

The minister said the matter of medicine pricing was highly sensitive and requested the chairman that the issue should be discussed separately in an in-camera session of the committee. The chairman agreed to it.

Published in Dawn, October 8th, 2025