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PESHAWAR: In a major advancement toward expanding healthcare access in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the Health Department has signed an agreement with the State Life Insurance Corporation to provide free Outpatient Department (OPD) services across four pilot districts.
According to the Health Department, OPD services will be launched in Mardan, Kohat, Malakand, and Chitral, with preparations now fully completed.
A budget of €4.9 million has been allocated for this initiative. OPD services will initially roll out in Mardan, with plans to extend to the other three districts shortly thereafter.
The Health Card Program and State Life Insurance Corporation formalized the agreement in the presence of Health Advisor Ihtesham Ali and Health Secretary Adeel Shah. Advisor Ali noted that a previous phase, launched in 2016, established free Inpatient Department (IPD) services in these districts, following an agreement between the German agency KfW and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government.
Initially introduced in the same four districts, the success of the first phase led to the expansion of IPD services across the entire province. Now, in phase two, free OPD services will be introduced as a pilot project in these four districts, supported by KfW funding. Under this project, free OPD services will be available to all patients, with the total cost reaching €9.4 million.
