ISLAMABAD: The government on Thursday cleared a Rs40.188 billion Sehat Sahulat Programme to provide universal health coverage in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) and the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) for two years ending June 30, 2027. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is expected to formally launch the project within the next couple of days. This was one of the five health sector projects worth Rs79.35bn cleared by the Central Development Working Party (CDWP) at a meeting presided over by Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal. The Sehat Sahulat Programme was originally launched on Feb 7, 2018, and gradually expanded across the country and extended from the initial three years to seven years, ending June 2025 and was devolved to provinces. Presiding over a meeting on Jan 2, 2026, PM Shehbaz approved the continuity of the programme beyond June 30, 2025, until June 30, 2027, for AJK, GB and ICT only. Rs79bn health projects approved; Polyclinic-II plan revised Under his directives, a modified project with a revised capital cost of Rs40.188bn was cleared by the CDWP and referred to the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) for formal approval under universal health coverage (UHC) scope. The project is a key component of the Uraan Pakistan social sector Initiative and seeks to ensure equitable access to quality healthcare services for all citizens, particularly the poor, vulnerable and underserved segments of society. Under the revised framework, the Sehat Sahulat Programme is being implemented through the development budget on a universal basis in the three federal territories for improving overall public health outcomes by expanding coverage of secondary and priority inpatient treatments. The programme would provide health insurance coverage for indoor healthcare services to all permanent resident families in the covered districts as per Nadra records to reduce out-of-pocket expenses and catastrophic health expenditures related to hospitalisation by up to 60 per cent. The minister told the meeting that the programme was initially launched in 2015 by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif with the core objective of providing 100pc health coverage exclusively to poor and deserving families. He alleged that the subsequent renaming and expansion of the programme to affluent segments in certain regions led to the misuse of resources and restricted access for genuinely deserving households. He directed that the programme be renamed its original title, i.e. the Prime Minister’s National Health Programme, and that public resources remain focused on protecting vulnerable groups and strengthening the social safety net. All in all, the CDWP approved three smaller development projects with a combined estimated cost of Rs12.5bn under its financial powers and referred two larger (Rs56.8bn) projects, including the Rs40.188bn Sehat Sahulat and Rs15.95bn Jinnah Hospital (Polyclinic-II), Islamabad, to Ecnec for formal approval. Published in Dawn, January 16th, 2026