PM Nawaz Sharif launches ambitious National Health Programme

Lahore: Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif Thursday launched an ambitious “PM’s National Health Programme” to provide free medical treatment to the poorest of the poor at public and private hospitals. “It is a step forward towards making Pakistan a real welfare state,” the Prime Minister said at the launching ceremony of the programme.

The programme aimed at providing quality healthcare has been launched in 15 districts and would be later expanded to 23 in next phase. Around 1.2 million card holder families would get this facility in the first phase.

Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, Commerce Minister Khurram Dastagir, Minister of State for National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination Saira Afzal Tarar, Minister of State for Interior Baleeghur Rehman, Minister for CADD Dr. Tariq Fazal and Maryam Nawaz Sharif attended the ceremony.

The Prime Minister said the National Health Programme was fulfillment of one important promise of the Pakistan Muslim League’s manifesto and said the people will hear more good news regarding better health and education facilities in the days ahead. “We fully realize our responsibility, as we believe that a healthy nation was the key to a prosperous developed Pakistan,” Sharif said.

He said under the programme the card holders will be able to get free medical treatment and medicines up to Rs 300,000 at the designated public and private hospitals. However the Prime Minister said that for those who still need treatment and were hospitalized could be provided additional funding for up to Rs 300,000 more through Pakistan Bait-ul- Maal.

In this regard he directed Finance Minister Ishaq Dar to look into the matter and said if required, the funding for the Pakistan Bait-ul-Maal would be further enhanced.

The Programme to be launched with the cooperation of State Life Corporation and NADRA would provide indoor treatment and admission to hospitals for the ailing. The diseases covered in the programme are treatment for;Heart including Angioplasty and heart bypass, Diabetes and related complications, traffic accident and burn injuries including life and organ saving treatment, Cancer including chemotherapy, radiotherapy and surgery, complications related to renal failure and dialysis and complications related to chronic infections – Hepatitis and HIV, and Liver, Kidney and Heart failure.

The Prime Minister said the hospitals participating in the program would be upgraded and provided necessary medical equipment. He however warned that any medical staff not treating the patients covered under the program in a non-professional manner and against the medical ethics, would be dealt with strictly.

He also directed the Minister of State for Health Saira Afzal Tarar to personally monitor and ensure that the program runs smoothly.”No staff would be tolerated who tries to create any obstacle in the smooth functioning of the program,” the Prime Minister said.

“It is an important issue dealing with health of our citizens,” he added.

The Prime Minister said the Ministry of National Health Services and all stakeholders need to understand that this is a great cause and needs hard work to succeed. “We have to make it a success at all costs,” he reminded.

He said a lot of hard work has been put in and recalled the marathon meetings held over a span of one and a half years.

Sharif lauded the efforts made by MoS Saira Afzal, Maryam Nawaz Sharif, Secretary Health Muhammad Ayub Sheikh and the Chairperson of the State Life Corporation and NADRA for their painstaking efforts.

The Prime Minister said it was his desire that the scope of the programme was expanded to the provinces and hoped for a positive response. He said health and education were the responsibility of provinces, however said the federal government would continue to play its part in this important sector.

He said the provinces need to join hands with the federation and recalled the recent earthquake in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where the federal and the provincial government worked together for relief and rehabilitation of the quake affected people.

He said the federal government offered fifty percent funding for payments of compensation and relief measures and said his government believed in working with all provincial governments, without any discrimination.

The Prime Minister said the National Health Programme has been launched despite the resource constraint. He said it was his desire that there was a quality hospital in every city and town across the country, to cater to the medical needs of the people.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said he was aware of the sufferings of the poor, especially when one in the family get sick, and the family has to procure huge loans to get  treatment.”No poor will now have to sell his house hold goods, or even their homes, to get medical treatment,” he said.

He said his government believed that politics was a service to the nation and he was doing it with religious sanctity. He said the public welfare projects need to be carried out with a commitment and zeal, while setting aside petty political differences, criticism and intolerance.

A society can only progress with a positive approach,” the Prime Minister said.

He also mentioned the large scale development work initiated across the country since he took over. He regretted that none of the previous governments fulfilled their responsibilities and his government was trying to clear the huge backlog.

He mentioned the network of roads and motorways being built to enhance connectivity. He said the Gwadar Port will be connected to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan with roads up to 2300 km long. The port would eventually be linked to the Central Asian Republics, he added.

He questioned why no work was undertaken to build a motorway since he was ousted in 1998. He said now a network of roads would be constructed in Balochistan. He said he would soon be performing the groundbreaking of the Lahore-Karachi motorway and inaugurate 400 kms long roads in Balochistan.

Similarly, he said work was going on at a fast pace for construction of LNG terminals, and said the completion of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline would help the country meet its energy needs.

He said the loadshedding duration in the country has declined significantly and it was for the people to see for themselves the positive changes being brought in.

Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said service to the masses was the only priority of the PML government. He said the funding for the poorest of the poor segments of the society have been enhanced from Rs 30 billion to Rs 95 billion to cater to the basic needs of 30 million families.

Minister for Health, Saira Afzal Tarar highlighted various aspects of the National Health programme and said the needy people now need not worry about health expenses as these would now be met by the government.

She said a transparent computerised procedure has been established to ensure provision of this facility. She said nine billion rupees have been allocated for the programme and the health facility would be for every citizen of Pakistan who has less than two hundred rupees daily earning.