Punjab spends Rs17.5b on free treatment under special health programmes

LAHORE, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 1st Jun, 2026) More than Rs17.5 billion worth of free treatment has been provided to patients under various special health programmes through federally funded hospitals, Punjab Health Minister Khawaja Salman Rafique was informed during a meeting on Monday at the Punjab Health Initiative Management Company (PHIMC).

The meeting, chaired by the provincial health minister, reviewed progress on several flagship healthcare initiatives launched by the Punjab government. A detailed briefing was given on various health projects being implemented under the directives of Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz.

PHIMC Chief Executive Officer Dr Ali Razaq, Chief Operating Officer Shamshad Ali Khan, Director Procurement Muhammad Muneeb, Chief Financial Officer Bilal Butt, Director Communication Ali Mazhar, Director Federally Funded Programmes Arham Waheed, Additional Director Monitoring and Evaluation Hasnat Ahmed and other senior officials attended the meeting.

Speaking on the occasion, Khawaja Salman Rafique said the Punjab government is taking historic and transformative steps to strengthen the healthcare sector and ensure access to quality medical services. He said that under the Chief Minister’s Adult Cardiac Surgery Programme, free treatment worth more than Rs3 billion is being provided annually to heart patients. Similarly, under the Chief Minister’s Special Initiative for Cancer Patients, free diagnostic, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, surgical and medical treatment facilities worth Rs13 billion are being provided every year.

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The minister added that the Chief Minister’s Special Initiative for Stroke Management would provide free treatment worth over Rs3 billion annually to stroke patients. He directed officials to ensure maximum healthcare facilities for patients in both public and private hospitals.

Highlighting achievements under the Chief Minister’s Children’s Heart Surgery Programme, he said more than 12,926 children had undergone free heart surgeries across the province. Beneficiaries also included 536 children from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 325 from Azad Jammu and Kashmir, 131 from Islamabad, 38 from Balochistan, 49 from Gilgit-Baltistan and 35 from Sindh.

The meeting was informed that 1,944 transplants had been carried out under the Chief Minister’s Special Transplant Programme, including 952 kidney transplants, 601 cochlear implants, 311 liver transplants, 40 bone marrow transplants and 40 corneal transplants.

Officials further briefed the meeting that more than 41,880 patients had so far been registered under the Chief Minister’s Dialysis Programme, while millions of dialysis sessions had been provided to patients across Punjab.

The Health Minister reiterated the government’s commitment to improving healthcare services, saying all available resources are being utilised to provide the best possible medical facilities to the people of Punjab.