Federal Health Minister Mustafa Kamal has announced that the government has included 42 private hospitals in Islamabad in the Sehat Sahulat Program to reduce the growing burden on public hospitals.
Addressing a ceremony in Islamabad, he said that the government will bear all treatment expenses at the private hospitals included in the program. The initiative is part of the Sehat Sahulat Program, which has been reactivated after remaining suspended for several years.
The federal health minister said that providing quality healthcare facilities to the public is the government’s top priority. He added that the pressure on public hospitals continues to increase due to the rapidly growing population, and maintaining this pace has become difficult under the current economic situation.
He stated that Islamabad’s population has exceeded 3.5 million, while patients arriving from Rawalpindi, Azad Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan, and other areas are also placing an additional burden on hospitals in the federal capital. As a result, complaints regarding overcrowding and the quality of facilities have been increasing.
Mustafa Kamal said that the federal and provincial governments are collectively spending Rs1,156 billion on the health sector, yet the patient satisfaction rate remains below 10 percent. A government study has shown that better healthcare facilities can be provided through collaboration with the private sector at a cost of Rs210 billion.
He said that universal health coverage is the need of the hour, and if the private sector is not included, the country will have to construct 5,000 new hospitals to meet the demand.
The health minister warned that any hospital found guilty of negligence or providing substandard treatment will be immediately removed from the program. Thanking the Prime Minister for restoring the program, he said that the initiative would help bring Pakistan closer to a healthcare system that meets international standards.
