By: Ijaz Afridi
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government has posted and transferred 11 officers of different cadres on Thursday. According to a notification issued in this regard, Grade 18 PMS Akasha Kiran has been placed on the disposal of P&D services, Grade 17 Junaid Akbar has been posted as Secretary Regional Transport Authority Bannu, Ashfaq Iqbal has been posted as Additional Assistant Commissioner Dagar Buner, Dildar Khan has been posted as Assistant to Commissioner Revenue Kohat Division, in addition, Grade 18 PMS Officer Abbas Ali Bukhari has been posted as the disposal of Education Monitoring Authority Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, while Ghazi Saeed has been posted as Secretary Regional Transport Authority Abbottabad, similarly, Grade 17 PMS Lubna Iqbal has been posted as Section Officer P&D, Zulfiqar Khan has been posted as Assistant to Commissioner Hazara, similarly, Grade 17 Jan Bakhtzeb has been posted as Section Officer Environment Department, Irshad-ul-Haq has been posted as Assistant Commissioner Upper Orakzai, another notification said. According to PMS, Officer Afzal Ali has been appointed as Additional Assistant Commissioner Mastuj Upper Chitral.
Read also: KP allocates Rs 276 billion for health, marking 19% increase
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Finance Department has set the health department’s budget at Rs 276 billion for the fiscal year 2025-26, which is 19 per cent more than the previous fiscal year.
Last year, Rs 232 billion was allocated for health.
According to the budget documents, the budget allocated for the Sehat Card Plus program in the settled districts has been increased from Rs 28 billion to Rs 35 billion, which shows a 25 per cent increase. Similarly, Rs 6 billion has been allocated under the Sehat Sahulat program for the merged districts.
More expensive and complex treatments have also been included in the Sehat Card Plus program this year, including kidney, liver and heart diseases, as well as bone marrow transplants.
In addition, the expensive cochlear implant treatment for restoring hearing in children and adults will now be provided free of charge under the Sehat Card.
Treatment of fatal diseases like accidents, emergencies, diabetes, hepatitis, dialysis and cancer will also be completely free through the health card.
According to the government, the aim of this initiative is to ensure the provision of quality and free treatment to all citizens of the province without discrimination. A significant amount has also been allocated in the budget for the improvement of basic health centres.
During the financial year 2025-26, Rs 1.2 billion has been allocated for the improvement of more than 2,500 basic health centres in urban and rural areas so that medicines, medical equipment, electricity, water and patient care systems can be improved in these centres.
Thus, a plan is also included to establish newborn care centres in five districts of the province; however, the budget documents did not clarify in which districts these centres will be established and how long it will take to complete them.
The provincial government has also included the establishment of satellite centers of the Peshawar Institute of Cardiology in Mardan and Bannu, the establishment of a nursing college in Upper Chitral district, the upgradation of Sadda Hospital in Kurram district from category D to C, and the rehabilitation and reconstruction of Daburi Hospital in Orakzai district in the plans for the next fiscal year.
