When will KP start free liver transplants under the Sehat card?

• KP health dept says liver transplant coverage to be added to Sehat Plus Card from January 2022 to benefit 100 hepatic failure patients in a year.
• SSP project director says 313,000 patients from KP have benefited from Sehat Plus Card.
• Says Rs8 billion have so far been spent on account of Sehat Plus Cards to facilitate people.

PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa health department has decided to cover liver transplants under the government's Sehat Sahulat Programme (SSP) health card, Geo News reported Wednesday.

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government, in April, 2021, had decided to cover liver transplants for patients under the Sehat Card Plus Scheme to provide free treatment facilities and make the scheme a comprehensive package of social health protection.

According to the provincial health department, the facility will be added to the Sehat Plus Card from January 2022 and 100 hepatic failure patients will benefit from it in a year.

A total of Rs5.1 million will be spent on each patient.

SSP Project Director Dr Riaz Tanoli said that 313,000 patients from the province have benefited from the free health initiative under the SSP health cards this year. The health facilities these patients availed include cardiac surgeries, dialysis, and other medical procedures or treatments.

Dr Tanoli further stated that Rs8 billion have been spent on account of Sehat Plus Cards for people's facilitation.

Patients from remote areas of KP are regularly seen queuing up at the counter of the province's biggest medical facility, Lady Reading Hospital, and have to face inconvenience due to the absence of resources.

The SSP was launched in collaboration with German bank KfW in four districts of KP in 2015 and covered 3% of the province's population at the time, Dawn reported.

Later, the programme was scaled up to 51% of the population in 2016, 69% in 2017 and then to the entire province in 2020.