PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government on Wednesday launched free outpatient patient department (OPD) services at hospitals under Sehat Card Plus as a pilot project for deserving residents ofthe province.

Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur formally inaugurated free OPD services at a ceremony held here at Chief Minister`s House.

Provincial cabinet members, lawmakers and officials of health department attended the ceremony, according to a statement.

The free OPD scheme is being launched as a pilot project in Mardan district, benefiting 50,000 deserving households. In the second phase, the scheme will be extended to Chitral, Malakand and Kohat districts. Under this scheme, medications, laboratory tests and healthcare services will be provided free ofcostto poor people.

The pilot project was launched in collaboration with German organisation KfW. Based on the data of Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP), approximately 102,000 deserving households from the four districts will benefit from it.Free OPD services will be available not only at hospitals already on Sehat Card panel but also at all basic health units (BHUs) and rural health centres (RHCs) at union council level. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has become the first province to provide free OPD services under Sehat Card Plus.

Addressing the event, the chief minister said that provincial government expanded Sehat Card Plus scheme from a limited-scale initiative to a province-wide programme.

Previously, free treatment under Sehat Card was only available for admitted patients, but now OPD patients would also receive free healthcare, he added.

He said that in the past, development projects were concentrated in the chief minister`s home district, but that would no longer happen. He said that during the caretaker government, Sehat Card programme was nearly shut down, but his administration revived it and increased service rates that saved Rsibillion monthly owing to efficient monitoring and transparency.

The chief minister said that before his government, 70 per cent of SehatCard treatments were conducted in private hospitals, but the government improved the quality of public hospitals and restored public trust. `Now 70 per cent treatments take place in government hospitals,` he added.

He also announced establishment of cardiac satellite centres in different regions of the province for treatment of heart diseases. He highlighted new social welfare initiatives including marriage assistance for 4,000 deserving girls where the government would cover wedding expenses and provide Rs200,000 to them as dowry.

Mr Gandapur introduced a life insurance scheme under which, in case of the death of a person under 60 years of age, his heirs would receive Rs1 million whereas if a person over 60 years passed away, his heirs would be provided with Rs500,000.

He said that his government increased the province`s revenue by 55 per cent, resulting in a budget surplus of Rs176 billion. He added that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was the only province to meet the targets of International Monetary Fund assigned to provincial governments.

Bureau Report