Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday revived and extended the Health Card program to Islamabad, Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan, emphasizing the federal government’s commitment to providing quality healthcare as a fundamental right for every citizen, regardless of social or economic status.
Addressing a ceremony, he said the initiative marked another major step towards delivering healthcare facilities at people’s doorsteps. Recalling the launch of the scheme in 2016 under then-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, he said the program was later expanded rapidly across all provinces. He stressed that nothing was more valuable in life than health.
“If there is health, there is education; if there is health, there is dignified employment; if there is health, there is progress in every field of life,” he said. Noting that while affluent segments of society could afford expensive treatment anywhere in the world, the real test of the state lay in protecting the poor, widows, orphans and daily wage earners who struggled to make ends meet.
“If a laborer falls ill and leaves this world without treatment, his children are left in permanent darkness. Healthcare is the right of every Pakistani—whether a prime minister or a street vendor,” he said.
Congratulating Health Minister Mustafa Kamal, the secretary health and their entire team, the prime minister urged transparent implementation through third-party monitoring to ensure treatment was provided at the right facilities and with appropriate standards. He also expressed confidence that honest execution of the program would not only serve the people but also bring reward in this world and the hereafter.
Hoping for swift and effective implementation, Sharif said he would personally monitor the program through visits and inspections in collaboration with Islamabad’s health leadership, parliamentarians, the chief minister of Gilgit-Baltistan and the premier of AJK. He further said a demand to extend the program to Sindh was valid, adding he would personally raise the issue with the provincial chief minister.
According to the prime minister, the program is already progressing rapidly in Punjab, with billions of rupees spent on healthcare. Congratulating the Punjab government on its efforts, he said efforts would target ensuring quality healthcare nationwide.
Earlier, in his address at the ceremony, minister Kamal said the revived program would provide free, cashless healthcare to nearly 10 million residents of Islamabad, Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan. He said the initiative ensured citizens could receive treatment without worrying about affordability during moments of pain and distress.
Sharing operational details, Kamal said around 70 hospitals were being empaneled under the Prime Minister’s Health Card across Islamabad, AJK and Gilgit-Baltistan, including 20 additional hospitals in Islamabad alone. He added that cardholders from these regions living in Karachi would also be able to access treatment at 16 designated hospitals in the city.
He noted that Sindh remained the only province where the Prime Minister’s Health Card was not yet operational, while Punjab, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan and the federal territories were already covered. Referring to earlier proposals, he said a plan covering 10 rural and urban districts of Sindh at an estimated cost of Rs. 24 billion had been prepared. “If funding is provided for just two years, the program can become self-sustaining from the third year onward,” he maintained, hoping that healthcare deprivation in Sindh could also be addressed.