Prime Minister Imran Khan announced that the government would shut down all district headquarters (DHQ) hospitals and facilitate the private sector to ensure provision of health care to people in far-off areas through the Naya Pakistan National Health Card.
Speaking at the launch of the health card at a ceremony at the Governor House, the prime minister regretted that the DHQ hospitals were lying deserted because of the absence of doctors there. “Why should the government spend money if doctors are not going to the DHQ hospitals to serve the masses?” he asked.
The prime minister said the health card would be available in Lahore division from Jan 1 (today) and all families across Punjab would be covered by March 2022. Calling it a big step towards the creation of a welfare state, the PM said the government would be spending Rs400 billion to offer health insurance to 30 million families in Punjab.
“Now, the private sector will come forward and establish hospitals across the province” for which it would be incentivised in acquiring land on controlled rates and availability of duty-free imported medical equipment, he stressed.
The private sector would be able to offer quality treatment to masses even in the far-flung areas in the province through the health card.
“The government wants all the poor people to be facilitated and helped to rise as was the case in the welfare state of Madina,” Mr Khan said and regretted that such a state did not exist in Muslim countries, but it did in Europe.
After covering the entire Punjab, the prime minister said, the health cards would be given to people in Balochistan, Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan – where the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) had a government.
Meanwhile, federal Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry appealed to the Sindh chief minister to review his decision and let the people of his province avail the facility of Rs1 million health card. Regretting that the Sindh government was depriving its people of the facility, Mr Chaudhry said the PPP government in the province always played the “Sindh card” but refused to play a “positive card”.
Prime Minister Imran Khan also explained the PTI government’s other initiatives, including bank loans to the salaried classes to build homes. Of the Rs260bn loan applications, he said, some Rs110bn loans had been approved and Rs34bn already disbursed. This will continue to expand with time, he added. The prime minister also explained the importance of the Kamyab Pakistan and Ehsaas Ration programme.
However, to do away with DHQ hospitals or any other part of the government’s primary healthcare system, including Basic Health Units, Rural Health Centres and Tehsil Headquarters Hospitals, would likely create more problems for the underprivileged. For one, the health card covers mainly inpatient procedures.
