QUETTA: Balochistan Chief Secretary Saifullah Chattah said on Sunday that the government would launch Prime Minister`s National Health Programme in the province later this month.

Speaking at a meeting held in connection with the programme, he said that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was likely to visit Quetta between March 20 and 25 to inaugu-rate the scheme.

Mr Chattah said that the programme would benefit 242,000 people in the province and initially it would be implemented in Quetta, Loralai, Lasbela and Kech districts.

`It is the responsibility of the government to provide health facilities to people,` the chief secretary said, adding that the provincial government had also been fulfilling its responsibilityin this regard.

Briefing participants of the meeting on the programme, FederalHealth Secretary Mohammad Ayyub Sheilch said that the programme was initially being implemented in 23 districts of the country. Later it would be expanded to all districts of the provinces and all federating units.

`In the first phase, the programme will be launched in Quetta, Lasbela, Loralai and Kech areas of the province,` he said.

`Under the programme, a National Health Insurance cover will be given to people living belowthe poverty line,` he said.

The programme would cover diseases such as diabetes and cancer and the government would bear entire medical expenditures of the people under the scheme, he said.

Mr Sheikh said that a social mobilisation campaign would also be launched across the province to get the people registered in the programme. Every family being registered under the programme would get free of cost medical treatment.