Th
e Sehat Sahulat Programme is a social health protection initiative of federal and participating provi
ncial and regional governments working to provide free of cost health insurance, for indoor health care services to the poor, vulnerable and marginalized families in Pakistan.
During 2016 and 2018 the programme started with phase-I
of the initiative. During that initiative it focused on below poverty families, providing benefit package of Rs 50,000 per family per year for low cost secondary care disease
s and Rs 250,000 per family per year for expensive seven priority care diseases.
The programme was then implemented in 38 districts across Pakistan covering 3.2 million families.
From 2019 the programme started phase-II
of the initiative, under which it not only expanded its benefit package to Rs 60,000 per family per year for low cost secondary care disease and Rs 300,000 per family per year for high cost eight priority care diseases but also extended coverage to 9.2 million families living below poverty line, all permanent resident famili
es of Tharparkar District (Sindh), all permanent residents of merged districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, all registered transgender
s and all registered persons with permanent disabiliti
es of Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJK), Gilgit Baltistan (GB), Punjab and Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT).
The programme will also be expanded to the provinc
es of Balochistan and Sindh as soon as provi
ncial contribution in health insurance premium is assured by the provi
ncial governments.
The services, which are available from “Qaumi Sehat Card” (former Sehat Insaf Card), include open heart surgeries, insertion of stunts, management of cancer, neurosurgical procures, burn management, accident management, dialysis, intensive care management, deliveries, C section and other medical and surgical procedures. The programme will also provide Rs 1,000 transportation cost to its beneficiaries on their discharge from hospital.
This is the one
of the leading initiatives
of the current political government in Pakistan through which support and assistance is provided to the poor vulnerable and marginalized families across the country.
Currently the Federal Government and Provi
ncial Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is working on expanding the initiative to all permanent residents of AJK (1.2 million families) and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (6.5 million families) respectively. This expansion will be completed during the current fiscal year.
In line with Prime Minister Imran Khan’s vision of Universal Health Coverage, the Federal Government is taking steps to uplift health status
of the country and is committed to yield all measures to remove hurdles in the expansion
of this social health protection initiative in Pakistan.
