Federal
Minister for National Health Services Saira Afzal Tarar said Pakistan is fully
committed to achieving the health-related Sustainable Development Goals.
Pakistan adopted SDGs in February 2016 through a parliamentary resolution that
was passed unanimously. Pakistan’s National Health Vision 2016-2025 is fully
aligned and in synchrony with the Sustainable Development Goals. While she said
this addressing 8th Annual Public Health Conference today in Islamabad.
Minister said that Pakistan is
fighting the final battle against Polio after major achievements by our
country, winning appreciation of the international community. There has been an
increase in coverage of children vaccinated under Expanded Program on
Immunization by 15-20 percent. Vaccine Logistics Management Information System
VLMIS has been introduced. The entire supply and storage system has been
certified by ISO in accordance with international best practices and
appreciated by GAVI as a model to be replicated. We are working to optimize the
use of antimicrobial medicines in health sector, agriculture and animal health
sector though implementation of a multi-pronged strategy in line with our
national AMR policy.
Minister said Pakistan’s Joint
External Evaluation of International Health Regulations and Global Health
Security Agenda have won appreciation from global health community and are
being seen as a model for others to follow. For the first time in Pakistan, we
introduced a comprehensive and futuristic Drug Pricing Policy which will
eliminate all discretionary powers and also allowing for reduction in drugs
prices. Pakistan is fully committed to implement
the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) with specific reference to
SDGs by taking legislative, administrative and coordination measures to
implement FCTC provisions.
She said Achieving universal health
coverage ranges high among internationally and nationally agreed objectives.
One of the biggest achievements of this government in the realm of universal
health coverage and social health protection is by launching the landmark
National Health Insurance initiative in 2015 by our leader and former Prime
Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif. Prime Minister’s National Health Program is a social protection initiative
in Pakistan providing
financial protection to families
against Out of Pocket Expenditure
especially catastrophic health
expenditures. A program for the provision of free of cost health insurance to 3.1 million families in 40 districts
living below poverty line of US $ 2 per
day to access cashless health
care services package of 0.3 million rupees per family per year
available in both public and private sector through a health card issued by a
highly transparent mechanism. Thousands of poor patients have benefitted from
the treatment facilities including deliveries, cardiac surgeries, cancer and
other major diseases in the best private and government hospitals in their
districts, without spending a single rupee.
After the success of phase 1 the
government is going to launch the phase 2 of this program in order to expand
this safety net. We are committed to expand this program till every poor
citizen of this country is covered under the PMNHP.
Minister said Our Government accords
the highest priority to health which is a clear reflection of our political
manifesto. In order to be a prosperous and to create a socially equitable
future, social health protection and insurance programmes can lead to achieve
universal health coverage in near future.
I am thankful to Provincial Health Ministers and Departments for their
commitment and all out support to health sector interventions without letting
political differences come in the way.
