LAHORE: Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar Sunday said that the provincial government would start giving away the Naya Pakistan Sehat Card across Punjab from January, while these cards had already been given to people in Dera Ghazi Khan and Sahiwal divisions.
According to official sources here, in the first phase, the Sehat Card programme would be started from Lahore division and later on extended to six other divisions of the province.
He said that every family in Punjab would have Naya Pakistan Sehat Card by the end of March.
Every family would be able to get access to free treatment facility up to one million rupees per annum against one Naya Pakistan Sehat Card, adding that 300 million families would benefit from the card.
Usman Buzdar termed the initiative a big step towards a new Pakistan and the completion of another promise made by Prime Minister Imran Khan to the nation. The government had paid more attention to further improve the health facilities as the sector had been neglected in the previous regimes.
The health sector budget was Rs 169 billion in the previous government, while the present government increased it to Rs 399 billion, he added.
He said that for the first time in the history of Punjab such a hefty amount had been allocated for the improvement of the health sector besides setting up 8 Mother & Child Hospitals in the backward districts as well as Lahore.
It was not just a card but a comprehensive programme for solving problems of the common man, he added.