This is not just a health card, it’s a healthcare system which will redefine Pakistan and make it an example for other Islamic nations across the globe, said Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday.
He was speaking at the launch ceremony of Naya Pakistan Sehat Cards for the citizens of Islamabad. Under the project, up to one million families across Islamabad, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan, and Tharparkar will be provided health insurance of Rs1 million.
“Pakistan was built for a purpose, to become an exemplary Islamic welfare state. And health cards are a defining moment for us,” the premier said.
A nation grows only when it’s national security is ensured. And that happens when its people love the nation. When they take ownership of the country. This is what makes a state invincible, he explained.
“We are spending Rs450 billion on health cars and this is historic,” the PM said, pointing out that no one else from the previous government got close to this number.
He added that the health card will carve the healthcare system of Pakistan by doing the following things:
- Built pressure on government hospitals to do better.
- Encourage private hospitals to go to villages and underdeveloped areas.
- Facilitate private hospitals by providing cheap land and duty-free equipment.
- Build five mother and child care centres to counter the high child and pregnancy mortality rate in Pakistan.
The premier lauded Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar for managing everything exceptionally. “So many campaigns were run against him. But when the results of surveys came out, Buzdar was ranked the best CM in the country.”
He said that the chief minister knows what he is doing. “He comes from these underdeveloped areas and knows what people want. Unlike the former CM [Shehbaz Sharif] who just roamed around in boots and flew abroad for just a cough.”
