PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has decided to constitute a high-level committee comprising experts from health sector to submit short and mid-term proposals to further streamline the operational matters of the Sehat Card Plus scheme in the province.
The committee will come up with short-term proposals falling within the caretaker KP government, while the mid-term measures will be left to the next provincial government to take charge after the upcoming elections.
Moreover, the committee will also suggest measures regarding improvement of the healthcare services delivery system in the rural areas of the province.
The decision was taken at a meeting presided over by caretaker Chief Minister Muhammad Azam Khan which discussed in details various matters related to ‘Sehat Card Plus’, an initiative aimed to provide free of cost healthcare facilities to people.
Advisor to Chief Minister on Health Dr Abid Jamil, Finance Secretary Ayaz Khan, Health Special Secretary Ubaidullah Kaka khel, Project Director Dr Riaz Tanoli and other relevant officials attended the meeting.
In a briefing about Sehat Card Plus, the meeting was informed that under the scheme, free treatment facilities were being provided to 9.7 million households in the province at a cost of Rs28 billion annually.
It was told that a total of 1,139 healthcare facilities, including public and private hospitals, have been engaged under the scheme to provide quality healthcare services to the citizens.
The chief minister termed Sehat Card Plus an important step for the public welfare and said the scheme could be further improved by removing the deficiencies found in the process.
“We have to ensure that the people get the maximum benefits from the scheme,” he observed.
Azam Khan also directed the officials concerned to submit a report with regard to utilisation of funds allocated for the maintenance of various hospitals of the province.
