ISLAMABAD:- The Federal Ministry of Health has decided to demand Rs.48.06 billion development funds including Prime Minister Sehat Card, Hepatitis-C for next fiscal year as compared to Rs12.65 billion allocated development funds for the current fiscal year.
According to the document shared with the scribe, the Ministry of Health has finalised its development plan for the next fiscal year. The Ministry has added 50 development schemes worth Rs348 in its proposed Public Sector Development Program with the through forward amount of Rs65 billion.
The ministry has added 50 development schemes including 36 ongoing and 14 new development schemes for the next fiscal year, the data shows.
The Prime Minister’s Hepatitis-C program worth of Rs74.36 billion was proposed by the Health Ministry for the next fiscal year. The program aimed for elimination of Hepatitis-C infection envisages eliminating by 2030. HCV infection from all provinces and territories of Pakistan, it will also help to achieve SDGs target for population screening. The Ministry has proposed Rs500 million for the next fiscal year.
The Health Ministry has also new project “Strengthening and up-gradation of the Nursing and Midwifery sub-sector within Health Sector in Pakistan” worth of Rs8.2 billion. The project aims to significantly enhance the quality of nursing graduates and their numbers by 2025 which is encompasses up=gradation of the Nursing Education, up-gradation of the Midwifery Education and addressing governance and accountability issues. The ministry has proposed Rs500 million for the next fiscal year.
The Ministry of Health has also proposed new project namely “Tackling Malnutrition Induced Stunting in Pakistan” worth Rs153 billion to significantly reduce malnutrition induced stunting in Pakistan in the next five years and virtually eliminate it in children born in 2025 by 2030. The Ministry has proposed Rs500 million as seed money of the project for the next fiscal year.
The Ministry has also proposed three new projects of including up-gradation of gastroenterology Hypnology Department with Modular Advances Endoscopy Suit worth Rs1.1 billion, up-gradation of Liver Transplant Unit/General Surgery Department With Robotic Surgery System worth of Rs1.82 billion and up-gradation of essential medical equipment in various department worth Rs1.99 billion at Shaikh Zayed Postgraduates Medical Institute Lahore.
The data shows that the Ministry of Health proposed to allocate Rs18.56 billion for the Sehat Sahulat Program Prime Minister’s National Health Insurance Program Phase-II. The project worth Rs31.93 billion was approved by ECNEC on 29-08-2019 during the PTI government. The document shows that the govt has spent Rs11.27 billion and remaining amount would be utilized during the next fiscal year.
The Ministry has also decided to demand Rs7.41 billion for ongoing project Establishment of Jinnah Hospital, Islamabad. It has also Rs.2.0 billion for establishment of 200 bed Center of Excellence for Gynecology Rawalpindi.
It is pertinent to mention here that the Ministry will submitted the proposed amount of PSDP in the Ministry of Planning and Development to include the proposed projects in PSDP. The Ministry of Planning and Development will submit it before the meeting of the Annual Plan Coordination Committee which will be held likely in May under the chairmanship of Minister of Planning and Development. The meeting will approve the amount according to the given ceiling by the Ministry of Finance. The recommendations of the meeting of the APCC will be discussed in the meeting of the National Economic Council which will be held under the chairmanship of Prime Minister on May 2023.