ISLAMABAD: Minister for Health Mir Aijaz Jakhrani told the National Assembly on Wednesday that the government was considering to introduce a Rs 4 billion Health Insurance Scheme in the next fiscal year to provide health cover to the poor.
In a written reply to a question from Rana Mahmoodul Hassan during the Question-Hour, the minister said the Health Ministry was in contact with the National Rural Support Programme and some insurance companies to develop and design a health insurance policy for the poorest sections of the society.
It was estimated that 40 million people shall be insured during the first year.Under this scheme, the insurance company would cover medical expenses up to Rs 250,000 per household for 4 million households living below the poverty line.
To another question, he said the UAE government had offered to set up a 220-bed state-of-the-art hospital with 8-bed fully digitalised trauma centre in Chak Shahzad, Islamabad.Answering a question from Nisar Tanveer, the minister said a total of 2,650 suspected patients of dengue fever were admitted to hospitals of different cities of the country. Out of these, 1,058 and 1,260 patients were admitted in Lahore and Karachi respectively.
He said 1,759 cases were confirmed by the laboratories while 30 deaths had been reported due to the dengue fever in the country. Replying to a question from Afzal Khokar, he said two centres for liver transplantation were being established at the Sheikh Zayed Hospital, Lahore, and the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, Islamabad.
Meanwhile, the National Assembly was informed on Wednesday that the government had taken several steps for improvement in the production of sea food and as a result sea food export from Pakistan reached $213 million in 2007-08.