DLP Report
PESHAWAR
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has increased its health budget to a record Rs325 billion and allocated around Rs51 billion for the Sehat Card Plus programme for the current fiscal year, the provincial health minister and finance adviser said on Thursday.
Health Minister Khaliqur Rehman and Adviser to the Chief Minister on Finance Muzzammil Aslam, speaking at a joint press conference, said the government remained committed to strengthening healthcare services and ensuring the long-term continuation of the Sehat Card Plus programme.
Mr Rehman said the province’s Universal Health Index, according to National Health Service data, had improved from 36.2 in 2015 to 53.5 in 2024, representing an increase of nearly 48 per cent. He said the improvement was mainly driven by the public sector.
He said the health budget had increased from Rs256 billion to Rs325 billion for 2025-26, compared with only Rs30.3 billion in 2013.
Talking about Sehat Card Plus, the minister said the programme was aimed at protecting families from the financial burden of expensive treatments, including heart surgery and organ transplants. He said the programme continued to operate in KP while similar initiatives in other provinces had been discontinued.
He said medicine procurement for the current fiscal year had started on July 1 and claimed that previous irregularities in the process had been addressed. The government had also allocated Rs1.2 billion for the Lady Health Workers programme, while 72 hospitals in remote areas were being outsourced to overcome the shortage of doctors.
The minister said the Healthcare Commission was being strengthened to take action against illegal medical practices and quackery. He also announced plans for new major hospitals on Ring Road, in Kohat and Malakand, besides a proposed Health City project.
He said a digital system, DHIS2, was being introduced to maintain patients’ complete medical records, with each patient to receive a tracking number.
Mr Aslam said Sehat Card was launched in 2016 and the provincial government began formally allocating funds for the programme in 2020. He said around 1.1 million families were currently benefiting from the facility.
He said 1,090,000 people benefited from Sehat Card in 2024-25, while the number increased to 1,329,353 in 2025-26. During the first month of the current fiscal year alone, 128,917 people had benefited from the programme.
The finance adviser said cochlear implant treatment, costing around Rs2.6 million per patient, had also been made free for children. Kidney and liver transplant facilities, costing around Rs2 million and Rs6.3 million respectively, would also continue to be provided despite financial constraints.
