ISLAMABAD: Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry on Sunday said the Sehat card facility was now available across Lahore.
Chaudhry in a tweet said people residing in Punjab are eligible to avail medical treatment up to Rs1 million annually.
The minister said the government will bear all the expenses on the treatment of the people under what he termed as a revolutionary programme.
Earlier this week, Prime Minister Imran Khan said his government is committed to transforming Pakistan into a welfare state.
He said that Rs400 billion would be spent for the provision of health facilities to 30 million families. “Time will tell where the health card will take the country from here,” he added.
JOBS ANNOUNCED IN HEALTHCARE SECTOR
Meanwhile, Punjab Health Minister Dr Yasmin Rashid announced 25,000 jobs for the youth in the healthcare sector.
Rashid, who was addressing a press conference, also detailed the use of the health cards.
She said people with a valid identity card (NIC) would not be able to claim the facility and the B-form of their kids will also be necessary to ensure the entire family was covered by the facility.
“We have also developed an application — Naya Pakistan National Sehat Card — through where details regarding the health facilities could be accessed easily,” she said, adding 133 hospitals have been added to the list of facilities in Lahore alone.
She said the website of the health card also carries information regarding the process of acquiring the card.
“The health card will be issued in the name of the head of the family who then will have to register members of his family to acquire the facility for them,” she said.
Every district would have a special desk for the holders of Sehat cards.
She further announced the provincial health department will add 25,000 new jobs this year and more doctors would be hired by the private hospitals after 101 health facilities have registered themselves with the department.
She further asked the public to vaccinate themselves against Covid-19, saying 51 percent of Punjab’s population have received the two mandatory doses while 71 percent have received at least one dose.
She lamented the public have been avoiding face masks after a decline in new infections and warned the Omicron variant was surging globally and is more transmissible than other variants.
