PM revives Health Card programme, extends coverage to Islamabad, AJK and GB

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday revived and extended the Prime Minister’s Health Card programme to Islamabad, Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan, reaffirming the federal government’s commitment to providing quality healthcare as a fundamental right for all citizens.

Addressing a ceremony, the prime minister said the initiative marked a major step towards delivering healthcare facilities at people’s doorsteps. Recalling the launch of the scheme in 2016, he said it was later expanded rapidly and stressed that health was the foundation of education, employment and overall progress.

He said while affluent segments could afford expensive treatment anywhere in the world, the true responsibility of the state was to protect the poor, widows, orphans and daily wage earners.

“If a labourer falls ill and leaves this world without treatment, his children are left in permanent darkness. Healthcare is the right of every Pakistani — whether a prime minister or a street vendor,” he said.

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The prime minister urged transparent implementation of the programme through third-party monitoring to ensure treatment was provided at appropriate facilities and standards. He said the initiative would be personally monitored through visits and inspections in coordination with health authorities, parliamentarians, the chief minister of Gilgit-Baltistan and the premier of Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

Responding to a demand for extending the programme to Sindh, he termed it valid and assured that he would personally raise the matter with the Sindh chief minister. He noted that the programme was progressing rapidly in Punjab, where billions of rupees were being spent on healthcare, and said efforts would be made to ensure similar facilities across the country.

Earlier, Federal Health Minister Mustafa Kamal said the revived programme would provide free, cashless healthcare to nearly 10 million residents of Islamabad Capital Territory, Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan.

He said around 70 hospitals were being empanelled under the Prime Minister’s Health Card across the three regions, including 20 additional hospitals in Islamabad. He added that cardholders from these areas living in Karachi would also be able to receive treatment at 16 designated hospitals.

Kamal said Sindh remained the only province where the Prime Minister’s Health Card was not yet operational, noting that a proposal covering 10 rural and urban districts of the province at an estimated cost of Rs24 billion had already been prepared. He expressed hope that healthcare deprivation in Sindh would also be addressed soon.