Imran Khan Introduces Naya Pakistan Health Card For All Punjab Citizens
Prime Minister Imran Khan announced the launch of a health insurance program for all Punjab citizens and stated that all households in the province will receive the Naya Pakistan Health Card by the end of March.
Families can receive free health care of up to 1 million rupees per year under this program.
Punjab is the second province to offer health insurance to its residents after the program in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was successfully launched and started offering all health insurance to its residents under the same program in February.
Prime Minister Imran Khan congratulated Punjab Health Minister Dr. Yasmeen Rashid and Senior Minister Usman Buzdar to lead the provincial project at the program’s launch event in Lahore.
“This is a crucial and defining moment on Pakistan’s path towards a welfare state,” said the Prime Minister.
He said the program would spend a total of Rs 440 billion on health insurance over a three-year period.
However, he added, “It’s not just about Medicare. It’s about [putting in] a health system.”
The prime minister said the initiative would encourage the private sector to invest in building hospitals in villages and remote areas where only public hospitals exist.
As per the Prime Minister, this program will encourage the private sector to invest in building hospitals in remote villages and places where only public hospitals exist.
“There is a shortage of doctors in these areas, but now the private sector will invest in building hospitals in the poorest areas because anyone with health cards can [pay for medical treatment],” he said.
Prime Minister Imran had previously said that the health card program is aimed at solving the problems of people, especially the poor who are facing a family member’s disease and unable to receive treatment.
He said he went through similar challenges and felt ‘powerless’. when his mother was diagnosed with cancer and at the time there was no hospital in Pakistan to treat the disease.
“I was thinking about setting up a health insurance system at the time,” he added.
He also mentioned that the opposition criticized him for not imposing a total blockade after the coronavirus surge.
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The Prime Minister said he made this decision because he was aware of the challenges that day laborers and the most disadvantaged people in total custody face.
“But the elite here care less about the poor,” he complained, adding that today Pakistan is being celebrated around the world for its handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
“See how many people died in neighboring India. See how many died in Iran. And how its economy has suffered. And then look at Pakistan,” he commented.
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