User:Wiki id2/Sehat Sahulat Programme
Sehat Sahulat Programme (lit. Health Benefit Programme) is a flagship healthcare reform of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf which is led by Prime Minister Imran Khan. The rollout of health insurance coverage aims to expand health insurance to millions of Pakistanis who had no healthcare coverage or limited healthcare coverage, the aim of the series of reforms is to eventually introduce universal healthcare across Pakistan. As of 2021, Pakistan's largest province by population (Punjab) is rolling out healthcare coverage in various districts of the province. While, one of Pakistan's poorest provinces Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa has rolled out coverage across all districts of the province.
This series of healthcare reforms can be traced back to 2013, five years before Khan became Prime Minister when his party won regional elections in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, the government of then Chief Minister Pervez Khattak instituted a pilot project called "Sehat Ka Insaf" meaning "Justice in Health", alluding to Khan's ideological commitment to social justice. After Khan became Prime Minister in 2018, the health reforms were scaled up significantly with the provinces of Punjab, Pakistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa implementing mass healthcare coverage.
As of 2013, Pakistan's healthcare system lagged behind peer countries. For example 78% of the public had to pay out-of-pocket at the point of healthcare, 75% of healthcare services were provided by the private sector and doctors outnumbered nurses/midwives by a ratio of 2:1.[1]
As of July 2021, over 250,000 people have undergone health treatment in the province of Khyber-Pakthunkhwa alone.[2]
Structure of Sehat Sahulat
Sehat Sahulat is structured as subsidised healthcare insurance. Essentially, each household is allocated a maximum amount of money by the government, this money is used to subsidise access to healthcare per household per year. The health insurance can be availed at hospitals run by the government as well as private-sector hospitals and clinics that have agreed to participate.
Challenges
The reforms have faced significant headwinds - firstly since the 18th Amendment to Pakistan's constitution, the power of the federal government is limited so the federal government is unable to directly initiate health reforms under the constitution. Since healthcare is devolved to the provinces. Nevertheless, as Imran Khan's party controls Pakistan's largest province in addition to Khyber-Pakthunkhwa, he has tasked his loyalist Chief Ministers who have in turn appointed the Minister of Health in the province to implement these reforms. However, Khan's coalition partners in Balochistan have yet to instigate these reforms, while Sindh province is ruled by the opposition Pakistan Peoples Party and they too have refused to co-operate with Imran Khan's federal government over healthcare reforms.