ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Muslim league-N government has decided to provide health insurance cover to the poorest of the poor families of 16 backward districts of the country including Pakistan-administered Kashmir, federally administered tribal areas and Gilgit-Baltistan that would provide free tertiary health care facilities in the first phase.
Sources said yesterday that the decision was taken in the national steering committee meeting of prime minister’s national health insurance programme this week. It was co-chaired by Maryam Nawaz who also heads the Prime Minister’s Youth Programme (PMYP). She is the architect of the scheme along with State Minister for National Health Services and Regulations Saira Tarar.
The second meeting of the steering committee took stock of the implementation status of the decisions taken in the first meeting of the committee.
The meeting was attended by all the provincial health departments’ representatives who briefed the panel in detail about the establishment of dedicated Project Management Units in their respective provinces besides the nomination of focal persons at provincial and district levels for the efficient handling of the pro-poor health care initiative of the government.
The meeting gave go-ahead to ministry of national health services and regulations for floating expression of interest for the selection of qualified insurance companies to implement the programme. INTERNEWS
