KP to expand treatment facilities under Sehat Card Scheme
Meeting chaired by CM also discusses outsourcing more health units in remote districts.
PESHAWAR: Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ali Amin Khan Gandapur has decided in principle to expand the free treatment facilities under the Sehat Card Scheme by including more public and private hospitals in panel.
He directed the quarters concerned to immediately convene a meeting of the concerned policy board in order to approve the inclusion of hospitals meeting the quality standards of the Sehat Card Scheme. However, he made it clear that no compromise should be made on the laid down criteria for hospitals.
Special attention should be given to the distance between hospitals and population, aiming to ensure that at least one hospital at tehsil level was on the panel of Sehat Card scheme, he added.
He issued these directives while chairing a meeting of the Health Department on Monday. The meeting discussed the empanelment of more hospitals under the Sehat Card Scheme, outsourcing of hospitals in remote districts, reforms in the health sector and other related matters. The meeting also reviewed the financial dues and other relevant matters of already outsourced public hospitals in certain districts.
The chief minister directed the Finance Department to immediately clear the dues to ensure the resumption of healthcare services in these hospitals as soon as possible.
In light of the provincial cabinet’s decision, the meeting also deliberated on outsourcing additional hospitals through the Health Foundation, directing the Health Department to present proposals for outsourcing more hospitals under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model by next month.
It was decided in principle to simplify the existing complicated process of hospital outsourcing by making necessary amendments to relevant legal framework, further deciding to constitute a steering committee under the chairmanship of Chief Minister to streamline the entire process of outsourcing.
The meeting also decided, in principle, to provide free medicines to children suffering from hemophilia in collaboration with Roche Pharmaceuticals Company. The cost of these free medicines will be shared equally by the provincial government and Roche Pharmaceuticals Company.
