PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhuwa government on Friday provided the Sehat Insaf Cards (Health Justice Cards) to the eunuchs in a special function held here at the Peshawar Press Club. Sehat Insaf Cards will provide each transvestite free medical treatment of up to Rs 540,000 annually at both public and private health facilities across Peshawar.
KP Health Services Director General, Dr Ayub Roze, Social Welfare Department Director Abid Kakakhel and Deputy Director Liaquat Ali addressed the event.
Dr Ayub said that the health facilities are being provided to the majority of the population of the province through various health projects, and the inclusion of transvestites in Sehat Insaf Cards scheme speaks of KP government’s priority to the mission of welfare for all citizens.
Abid Kakakhel and Liaquat Ali in their speeches said that the government was not only providing the facility of free medication to the transvestites but also mulling a proposal to formulate a separate policy for them aimed at improving their image in the society.
A high-level committee in this regard has been formed with a task to come up with viable recommendations as early as possible.
Sehat Insaf Cards Director, Dr Riaz Tanoli, said that no such medical facilities are available to the transvestites in other provinces.
TransAction Pakistan, an initiative of Blue Veins, lauded the KP government decision of making the eunuchs a part of the Sehat Insaf Cards.
TransAction Pakistan’s Provincial President, Farzana Jan, also expressed her pleasure over the provision of free medical facilities to the transgender community as the majority of them live below the poverty line.
As much as 69 percent population of the province is getting free of cost medical services through the Sehat Insaf Cards. So far, a sum Rs1.8 billion from the provincial treasury has been spent under this scheme.
Over 70,000 facilities of admissions and operations have been provided under the same scheme to the Sehat Insaf Cards holders.