Related Research Articles
The European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) is issued free of charge to anyone who is insured by or covered by a statutory social security scheme of the EEA countries or Switzerland and certain citizens and residents of the United Kingdom. It allows holders to receive medical treatment in another member state in the same way as residents of that state—i.e., free or at a reduced cost—if treatment becomes necessary during their visit, or if they have a chronic pre-existing condition which requires care such as kidney dialysis. The term of validity of the card varies according to the issuing country. The EEA countries and Switzerland have reciprocal healthcare arrangements with the United Kingdom, which issues a UK Global Health Insurance Card (GHIC) valid in the EEA countries and, in most cases, in Switzerland.
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf is a political party in Pakistan established in 1996 by Pakistani cricketer and politician Imran Khan, who served as the country's prime minister from 2018 to 2022. The PTI ranks among the three major Pakistani political parties alongside the Pakistan Muslim League–Nawaz (PML–N) and the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), and it is the largest party in terms of representation in the National Assembly of Pakistan since the 2018 general election. With a claimed membership of over 10 million in Pakistan, it claims to be one of the country's largest political parties by primary membership.
The National Database & Registration Authority (NADRA) is an independent and autonomous agency under the control of the Interior Secretary of Pakistan that regulates Government Databases and statistically manages the sensitive registration database of all the National Citizens of Pakistan. Lieutenant General Muhammad Munir Afsar serves as Chairman of National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) Pakistan.
The healthcare delivery system of Pakistan is complex because it includes healthcare subsystems by federal governments and provincial governments competing with formal and informal private sector healthcare systems. Healthcare is delivered mainly through vertically managed disease-specific mechanisms. The different institutions that are responsible for this include: provincial and district health departments, parastatal organizations, social security institutions, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and private sector. The country's health sector is also marked by urban-rural disparities in healthcare delivery and an imbalance in the health workforce, with insufficient health managers, nurses, paramedics and skilled birth attendants in the peripheral areas. Pakistan's gross national income per capita in 2021 was 1,506 USD. In the health budget, the total expenditure per capita on health in 2021 was only 28.3 billion, constituting 1.4% of the country's GDP. The health care delivery system in Pakistan consists of public and private sectors. Under the constitution, health is primarily responsibility of the provincial government, except in the federally administered areas. Health care delivery has traditionally been jointly administered by the federal and provincial governments with districts mainly responsible for implementation. Service delivery is being organized through preventive, promotive, curative and rehabilitative services. The curative and rehabilitative services are being provided mainly at the secondary and tertiary care facilities. Preventive and promotive services, on the other hand, are mainly provided through various national programs; and community health workers’ interfacing with the communities through primary healthcare facilities and outreach activities. The state provides healthcare through a three-tiered healthcare delivery system and a range of public health interventions. Some government/ semi government organizations like the armed forces, Sui Gas, WAPDA, Railways, Fauji Foundation, Employees Social Security Institution and NUST provide health service to their employees and their dependants through their own system, however, these collectively cover about 10% of the population. The private health sector constitutes a diverse group of doctors, nurses, pharmacists, traditional healers, drug vendors, as well as laboratory technicians, shopkeepers and unqualified practitioners.
The Computerised National Identity Card (CNIC) is an identity card with a 13-digit number available to all adult citizens of Pakistan and their diaspora counterparts, obtained voluntarily. It includes biometric data such as 10 fingerprints, 2 iris prints, and a facial photo. The National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA), was established in 1998 as an attached department under the Ministry of Interior, Government of Pakistan. Since March 2000, NADRA has operated as an independent corporate body with the requisite autonomy to collect and maintain data independently.
General elections were held in Pakistan on Saturday 11 May 2013 to elect the members of the 14th National Assembly and the four Provincial Assemblies. The three major parties were the Pakistan Muslim League (N) (PML-N) led by Nawaz Sharif, the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) led by President Asif Ali Zardari and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) led by Imran Khan. Prior to the elections, the ruling PPP formed an alliance with the Pakistan Muslim League (Q) and Awami National Party, while the main opposition party, the PML-N allied with the Pakistan Muslim League (F) and Baloch parties. The PTI led by cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan, also emerged as a key-player.
Government-guaranteed health care for all citizens of a country, often called universal health care, is a broad concept that has been implemented in several ways. The common denominator for all such programs is some form of government action aimed at broadly extending access to health care and setting minimum standards. Most implement universal health care through legislation, regulation, and taxation. Legislation and regulation direct what care must be provided, to whom, and on what basis.
Pervez Khan Khattak is a Pakistani politician who served as the minister of Defence from August 2018 until April 2022. He had been a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan from August 2018 till January 2023. Prior to that, he served as the 22nd chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa from 2013 to 2018, elected to the Provincial Assembly from Nowshera District. He was a senior member of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf until July 2023, when he formed his breakaway faction, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Parliamentarians (PTI-P). On 12 February 2024, he left the chairmanship of the PTI-P and took a break from politics tenders resignation as PTI-P chairman due to ‘health issues’.
The Pervez Khattak ministry was the coalition of provincial government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa between Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the Islamist Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), Qaumi Watan Party (QWP), and Awami Jamhuri Ittehad Pakistan (AJIP). AJIP later merged itself with PTI.
Sardar Ali Amin Khan Gandapur is a Pakistani politician who is currently serving as the 18th Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, in office since 2 March 2024. He served as the Federal Minister for Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan from 5 October 2018 to 10 April 2022. He had been a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan from August 2018 till January 2023.
The Prime Minister's Youth Programme or Kamyab Jawan Program, initiative launched by former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in 2013, and it ran from 2019 to 2022. The program aimed to provide quality education and meaningful employment opportunities to the youth through integrated, sustainable initiatives. It offered government-subsidised business loans of up to 25 million rupees, divided into three tiers: the first tier for loans between 10,000 and 1 million rupees, the second tier for 1 million to 10 million, and the third for 10 million to 25 million rupees.
Mahmood Khan is a Pakistani politician who was the Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa from August 2018 till January 2023 and a member of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). He had been a member of the Provincial Assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa from August 2018 till January 2023, when he, as Chief Minister, dissolved the Assembly. His tenure as Chief Minister saw various healthcare initiatives surrounding the Sehat Insaf Card, where he primarily focused on expanding the card to achieve universal free healthcare.
Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana, also colloquially known as Modicare, is a national public health insurance scheme of the Government of India that aims to provide free access to health insurance coverage for low income earners in the country. Roughly, the bottom 50% of the country qualifies for this scheme. People using the program access their own primary care services from a family doctor and when anyone needs additional care, PM-JAY provides free secondary health care for those needing specialist treatment and tertiary health care for those requiring hospitalization.
Sardar Usman Ahmed Khan Buzdar is a Pakistani politician who was Chief Minister of Punjab from 20 August 2018 to 30 April 2022, when he was roundly criticised for alleged incompetence. Buzdar was a member of the Provincial Assembly of Punjab from August 2018 till January 2023 representing the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). Belonging from a Baloch family, he is a minor feudal and the Tumandar of the Baloch tribe Buzdar, since April 2019. He served as Tehsil Nazim of Tehsil Tribal Area from 2001 to 2008.
The Imran Khan government was the Federal Cabinet of Pakistan from 20 August 2018 to 10 April 2022. It was formed by Imran Khan following general elections on 25 July 2018, which saw the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf come to power. The cabinet had 34 federal ministers, 7 ministers of state, 10 Advisers to the Prime Minister and 35 Special Assistants to the Prime Minister (SAPM), most of whom assumed office on 20 August 2018. The government was dissolved on 3 April 2022 following the dissolution of the National Assembly of Pakistan by the President, Arif Alvi at the behest of the Prime Minister, Imran Khan. On 7 April 2022, the Supreme Court of Pakistan ordered the restoration of the Federal Cabinet and National Assembly. On 10 April 2024 the government was defeated in a Vote of No-confidence (VONC) against Imran Khan, leading to its subsequent dissolution.
Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana is a universal health coverage scheme launched by Chief Minister of Odisha, Naveen Patnaik. The program extends coverage to approximately 70 lakh families, with the state government allocating a budget of 250 crore rupees. Services:
- Free health services are available in all state government health care facilities, starting from the subcenter level up to the district headquarter hospital level, with Swasthya Mitras deployed at help desk.
- Annual health coverage of Rs 5 lakhs per family and 7 lakhs per female members of the family.
Ehsaas Programme was a social safety net and poverty alleviation programme launched by the Government of Pakistan in 2019. Imran Khan, the then Prime Minister of Pakistan, called it a key initiative towards a welfare state that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party had promised to the people of Pakistan in their election manifesto. It is aimed at uplifting the backward class, reducing inequality, investing in the masses, and lifting-off the lagging districts in the country.
Syed Qasim Ali Shah is a Pakistani politician from the Peshawar District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He is currently serving as the Minister for Social Welfare and Women Empowerment of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa since September 2024 and notably served as Minister of Health for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa since March 2024 until a reshuffle in the Gandapur ministry. He has also been serving as a member of the Provincial Assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa since February 2024 from the seat PK-81 Peshawar-X. He stressed innovation in the provincial healthcare sector upon taking office.
The Gandapur ministry refers to the current provincial cabinet of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, headed by Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf.
The Buzdar provincial government was the Government of Punjab, Pakistan led by Chief Minister of Punjab, Sardar Usman Buzdar and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) from 27 August 2018 to 1 April 2022. His cabinet saw many prominent ministers from the First Parvez Elahi provincial government such as Mian Aslam Iqbal, Aleem Khan and Sibtain Khan. The cabinet also saw reshuffles, while Yasmin Rashid, a politician and gynecologist health expert was granted all health portfolios. Hashim Jawan Bakht, a graduate from the McGill University was also made Minister of Finance.
References
- ↑ "PM launches National Health Programme". 31 December 2015.
- ↑ "PM launches health scheme for the poor". 1 January 2016.
- ↑ "Prime Minister National Health Program (PMNHP)". 8 November 2015.
- ↑ "PM Khan launches countrywide Sehat Insaf Card scheme". 4 February 2019.
- ↑ "PM Khan launches countrywide Sehat Insaf Card scheme". 4 February 2019.
- 1 2 Farooq, Shujaat (November 2023). "Making Sehat Sahulat Program Sustainable". Pakistan Institute of Development Economics.
- ↑ "Sehat Sahulat Programme services continue: Spokesman". 14 April 2022.
- ↑ "Kidney transplant included in Sehat Sahulat Programme". 31 May 2019.
- ↑ "Sehat Sahulat Program (Federal & Punjab and KP) – NADRA Pakistan".