Working towards a welfare state

ISLAMABAD: The provision of healthcare services to the citizens at the grass-root level is the basis of a true welfare state and requires enormous struggle to ensure the well-being of citizens.

The task becomes more challenging especially at the time when a nation undergoes or comes across a challenge like Covid-19 as it has to tirelessly focus on efforts of building back communities.

Pakistan was also not an exception in this situation, but the government diligently coped with the challenge and won appreciation across the globe by initiating prudent policies in this hour of turmoil.

Pacing towards realization of the dream of making Pakistan an Islamic welfare state, the first-ever shock-oriented precision safety net “Ehsaas Tahafuz” was introduced by the PTI-led government under the internationally acclaimed Ehsaas Programme.

The Ehsaas Tahafuz is a flagship initiative of the government to provide one-time catastrophic health expenditures to the vulnerable population and has served around 1,100 deserving patients so far.

Currently, the programme is patient-centric, and caters to one-time high health costs for those who lack the ability to bear heavy expenditures while the enhancements are being planned to further expand its scale and scope in the near future.

The Ehsaas Tahafuz Project Management Unit was inaugurated at Holy Family Hospital (HFH) in January for piloting the project while the Ehsaas Facilitation Desk was also established at the hospital to provide necessary guidance to the patients.

The Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Poverty Alleviation and Social protection, Dr Sania Nishtar said, “Protecting vulnerable population against catastrophic health expenditure is the main objective behind Tahafuz as catastrophic healthcare costs usually push people into extreme poverty”.

Ehsaas Tahafuz will work with public hospitals to identify patients facing catastrophic health expenditures, who will then be assessed by the system, and if eligible, will be provided funding by allocating donations to the patient.

Dr Sania Nishtar also said that those people who are not availing any health insurance will just text the government to seek health aid to meet their catastrophic health expenditures and they will be assisted. “This will be our most effective programme in the next few months”, she hoped.

The programme has been developed on digital lines using information technology which provides immediate healthcare to deserving patients admitted to hospital.

“Tahafuz is revealing the best results. This innovative fund-based programme of health financing is contributing towards Universal Health Coverage (UHC) in Pakistan, a policy priority of our government to build back better, in a post Covid-19 context”, said Dr Sania.

Once fully operationalized nationwide, Ehsaas Tahafuz will set up a one-window paperless and web-based precision safety net. It will also have funders’ empowerment features in terms of micro transaction alerts and personalized login credentials for detailed web-viewing right down to the micro-transaction level.

As this unique initiative is proving to be a panacea to the miseries of poor people in the country, it is genuinely appreciated by the beneficiaries.

A mother of a beneficiary who visited the Holy Family Hospital for treatment of her son said, “I came here from Mianwali. My husband runs a small shop. The doctors here told me about the free medical treatment facility under the Ehsaas Tahafuz programme. I am thankful to the Ehsaas programme team who have extended support to us in such a critical time”, she added.

Arshad from Pind Dadan Khan, Jhelum said, “My wife is admitted in the intensive care unit (ICU) for the last four and a half months and I have spent all my savings on her treatment. Now I am relaxed that the Ehsaas Tahafuz team has taken the responsibility of her treatment.

“It is my request to Prime Minister Imran Khan that this programme should be expanded”, he urged.

The Ehsaas Tahafuz Steering Committee in its second meeting has approved various policy measures for the expansion of Tahafuz pilot project including beneficiary eligibility determination mechanism; treatment packages to be covered; and selection of service-provider hospitals in line with programme assessment criteria for expanding the Tahafuz pilot.

The committee also deliberated on the ‘Ehsaas Catastrophic Health Expenditure Policy’ that is currently in the pipeline to dovetail Tahafuz with the Sehat Sahulat programme of the government.

The Tahafuz Steering Committee has the mandate to provide managerial and strategic oversight to the Tahafuz programme.

Recently, Ehsaas Tahafuz has also announced its policy to extend support to cancer wards across Pakistan where over 170,000 new cancer cases are reported every year.

According to estimates, cancer is the cause of highest number of deaths in Pakistan, and the most common factor is the inability of patients and their families to bear the catastrophic health expenditures of its treatment.

“We have taken a principal decision to include cancer packages in the Ehsaas Tahafuz. Cancer is the single commonest cause of catastrophic health expenditures. Since cancer treatment is most expensive, the Ehsaas Tahafuz is now ready to integrate cancer-related packages in its scope of support”, Dr Sania Nishtar said.

The multifaceted Ehsaas Programme is running different segments including Ehsaas Kafaalat, Ehsaas Rashan Riayat, Ehsaas Undergraduate Scholarship Programme, Ehsaas Interest-Free Loan Scheme, Ehsaas Amdan, Ehsaas Education Stipends, Ehsaas Rehriban Programme, Ehsaas Nashonuma, etc.

It is hoped that in the days to come, the programme would be expanded to provide benefit to more deserving people in the country.—APP