PM inaugurates National Health Programme for AJK

MUZAFFARABAD, February 25: Prime Minister’s National Health Programme for Azad Jammu and Kashmir was launched on Thursday. Initially, it will cover two districts of Muzaffarabad and Kotli.
Launching the scheme in Muzaffarabad, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said the government is determined to provide free of cost treatment to the poor patients.
He said National Health Scheme is part of the manifesto of Pakistan Muslim League and every effort will be made to provide free health cover to the needy people.
Nawaz Sharif said the scheme will be extended to all parts of the country to benefit the poor as poverty is one of the reasons behind several diseases. He said the government gives priority to the welfare of people with education and health on top of the list.
The Prime Minister said that the government is developing infrastructure, trying to overcome shortage energy and working hard to eliminate terrorism from the country.
He appreciated all philanthropists, civil society members and welfare organizations working to provide free of cost or concessional treatment to the poor. The Prime Minister made it clear that there is no politics in the scheme as PPP and PML-N leadership is on the one platform to launch the scheme.
Nawaz Sharif said Ittefaq Hospital and Sharif Medical Complex in Lahore are providing free of cost treatment to the poor. He said eighty thousand people belonging to low income group will benefit from the scheme in Muzaffarabad only.
The Prime Minister announced 100 million rupees as grant and two buses for Mirwaiz Medical College Muzaffarabad.Nawaz Sharif also distributed health cards among the needy people at the function.
Speaking on the occasion, the AJK Minister for Health Sardar Qamar Zaman welcomed launching of the scheme in the liberated territory. The AJK President Sardar Yaqub Khan and Prime Minister Chaudhry Abdul Majeed were also present at the inaugural function.-DNA