PESHAWAR: The Sehat Insaf programme has been designed to encourage pregnant women to get free treatment to ensure safe deliveries at tertiary care hospitals and other cash benefits, according to gynaecologists.

They say that women and children are benefiting from the Insaf Card programme, launched by government on January 1, because they receive free tertiary care coverage. They say that they operated on women, who were brought with serious birthrelated complications. All the card-holding patients get Rs1,000 as transportation and Rs2,000 referral charges from secondary to tertiary hospitals which are a relief for people, who get all treatment free.

They get Rs1,000 on hospital-based birth of child.

The gynaecologists want the government to publicise the programme to trickle down its benefits to women in rural areas. Women in rural areas often miss treatment for lack of money to get shifted to hospitals that causes delays and preventable deaths.

One of the patient attendants is entitled toRs750 under the programme, at rate of Rs250 for three days.

More than 3,200 patients have been provided free treatment and investigation in health 54 facilities of 12 districts including Mardan, Peshawar, Nowshera, Hangu, Kohat, Swabi, Malakand, Chitral, Haripur, Abbottabad, Mansehra, Battagram, Torghar and Kohistan.

The authorities say that patients in Swat, Dir Upper and Lower, Buner, Bisham, Shangla, Karak, Lakki Marwat, Bannu, Tank and Dera Ismail Khan will start getting free treatment under the program by April.

Dr Manzoor All told Dawn that the programme offered better opportunities to 1.8 million households. He said that 97 women delivered babies under normal procedures and 78 underwent C-Section during the past two months. Hospitals in designated districts admitted 3,693 people including 2,164 female and 1,590 male of them 2,434 had surgical and 1,072 medical problems.

Swabi received 860 patients on Insaf Card.

The government has spent about R s60 million so far to provide facilities to patients.

The main beneficiaries are pregnant women, who undergo free surgeries at the teaching hospitals. The measure is aimed at puttingbralces on mother and child mortality and encouraging women to see doctors and stay safe from complications.

Dr Manzoor said that dead ones were given Rs10, 000 for funeral. `The patients receive secondary care in home districts in public and private hospitals on showing Insaf Card at the counters,` he said, adding government signed agreements with health facilities after carrying out assessment of the infrastructure.

Dr Manzoor said that the programme was benefiting women, children and other patients alike. Private hospitals are charging half of the market`s rate from the card holder patients for open heart surgery and other state-of-the-art procedures.

`Lady Reading Hospital,Khyber Teaching Hospitals and Hayatabad Medical Complex also give tertiary care facilities to the patients in evening shifts,` said Dr Manzoor.

He said that each of tight members of a family was entitled to Rs300, 000 for getting tertiary facilities. The entire amount can be used on treatment of one member of a household. `The State Life Insurance Corporation reimburses the amount to the hospitals which they spend on patients` treatment with ICs,` he said.