RAWALPINDI: Health Minister Aamir Kiani on Tuesday said half of the population of Pakistan will have health cards for free medical treatment by next year.
Talking to newsmen after inauguration of a shelter home for homeless people in Rawalpindi, the minister said people having health cards would be able to get medical treatment free of cost at private hospitals up to 720,000 rupees.
Aamir Kiani said best facilities would be provided to the needy at shelter homes, and the provincial governments concerned would bear the expenditures for it.
Earlier this month, Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar said that most of the hospitals in the country lacked basic facilities and the sector needed a lot of improvement.
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The country’s top judge said that sadly, a large number of hospitals, particularly the government-run, lacked basic facilities and patients could not get even medicine on time, let alone treatment.
“This rot is because of corruption and nepotism and this should end, once we start doing this on merit, we can avail benefits for years to come,” said the CJP.
He lamented that one of the health sector’s biggest issues was that only the rich could afford medical treatment and proper care and poor were being left to die.
“I have tried to play my part in urging the lawmakers to make laws for improvement of health sector and availability of facilities to all those who need medical care after I saw the condition of hospitals during my visits,” Saqib Nisar said.
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