The Ministry of Planning and the Ministry of Health, in consultation, have decided to prepare three proposals, including converting the program into universal health coverage, and present them at the next meeting of ECNEC.

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According to the first proposal, every citizen should be provided with free treatment facility up to one million rupees. According to the second proposal, the expenses should be partially shared between the government and the patient. According to the third proposal, people below the poverty line should be provided with free treatment facility up to one million rupees under the Benazir Income Support Program. The Ministry of Health has sent all the proposals to the Ministry of Finance and ECNEC for approval through the Ministry of Planning.

It should be noted that due to non-approval of the extension from ECNEC, this program has been closed in Islamabad, Azad Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan and Tharparkar for the last two years and the Ministry of Finance has not even approved the budget for the financial year 2025-26. However, a budget of Rs54.1 million was approved for the office, staff and CEO in the financial year 2024-25.

The prepared proposals state that the ‘Sehat Sahulat Program’ should be continued under the development budget for the current fiscal year, while it should be included in ongoing expenditures from next year.