PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government initiated the third phase of Sehat Card Plus scheme on Friday to expand the project to the remaining six districts of the province, including Peshawar, Mardan, Charsadda, Swabi, Nowshera and Haripur.
By the end of the third process, 14 million people in these six districts will be able to access free medical care services in enlisted hospitals in the public and private sector.
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The third step of the scheme was formally launched by Chief Minister Mahmood Khan at a ceremony here, an official statement said.
In addressing the ceremony, the Chief Minister referred to the Sehat Card Plus Scheme as the current government’s flagship programme and pro-poor initiative, and said the extension of the scheme to the entire population of the province was a significant development in line with the welfare state vision of the Prime Minister.
He said that the system would be expanded to the whole population of the province by the end of this month. He said the government was spending around Rs18 billion annually on the project.
CM says initiative to help reduce poverty in province
He said the scheme has now been expanded to 100% of the combined districts’ residents, but with a lower coverage of Rs600,000 per household per year.
He reported that the annual coverage of Rs600,000 for combined districts will also be expanded to Rs1 million as of the new financial year to put it on a par with that of the settled districts.
The chief minister claimed that the provincial government had also agreed to cover the Sehat Card System with kidney and liver transplants.
Sehat Card Plus is also a full social security package,’ the chief minister said, adding that the scheme will also help alleviate poverty in the province and boost people’s living conditions, in addition to ensuring free treatment facilities.
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The gathering was also attended by parliamentarians, in addition to regional cabinet ministers and government functionaries.
Previously, Provincial Health Minister Taimur Saleem Jhagra told the ceremony that with the expansion of the system to the whole population of the regions of Malakand and Hazara, patient admissions in government hospitals of the regions of Malakand and Hazara will increase in number.
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