- Rs 1317.752 million allocated for new hospitals
ISLAMABAD: The federal government on Friday allocated Rs 30,734.498 million for Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination Division (NHSRC) for the 20 ongoing and 37 new schemes for the financial year 2018-19.
According to the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP), out of the total Rs 30.734 billion, an amount of Rs. 12.438 billion has been earmarked for 20 ongoing schemes while Rs 18.295 billion has been allocated for 37 new schemes.
In the ongoing schemes, Rs 7.835 billion has been allocated for Expanded Program on Immunisation (EPI), Rs 2.400 billion for Prime Minister’s National Health Programme and Rs 575.717 million for Family Planning and Primary Healthcare Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).
Similarly, Rs 18.295 billion has been allocated for 37 new schemes of which majority of the projects are unapproved.
Out of the new total projects, Rs 4 billion has been allocated for Prime Minister National Health Program Phase-II, which was approved in February 2018.
Besides, an amount of Rs. 1.317 billion has been earmarked for new hospitals, planning, design, medical equipment planning and construction supervision services for the construction of 46 500-bed hospitals and 250 100-bed hospitals across Pakistan, which were approved on March 9, 2017.
It is worth mentioning that the same amount was allocated for the above-mentioned projects previously, but not a single penny could be spent because the project did not approve the whole year. According to the critics, it speaks volumes of the incumbent government’s apathy towards health sector.
Similarly, Rs 1.150 has been earmarked for Special Initiative Health programme, which is an unapproved project, while a total of Rs 282 million has been allocated for the unapproved programme for Family Planning and Primary Health Care in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).
Moreover, Rs 200 million has been allocated for National Preventive Health Programme and Rs 108 million for Pakistan Nutrition Programme.