Hazara cancer patients cannot avail Sahulat Card: KP govt fails to enlist Hazara cancer facility, compounding patients’ problems

MANSEHRA: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has included cancer in free treatment services under Sehat Sahulat Card but has not listed any health facility in the Hazara division to serve the patients.

“My husband was diagnosed as a cancer patient at the Institute of Nuclear Medicine, Oncology and Radiotherapy (INOR) in Abbottabad but his treatment couldn’t be initiated as we cannot afford such high expenses,” said Shaheen Bibi. Shaheen Bibi, a resident of Pulrah area, told reporters here. We shifted him to our native Pulrah area here but couldn’t have him treated because of poverty,” she said.

Shaheen Bibi said her husband had applied for the treatment through the Baitulmal fund but the case could not to be approved.She demanded the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government to include INOR its health facilities so that poor patient could avail that service without such hardship.

Malik Jibran, chairman, District Zakat Committee, said “around 65 per cent who apply for the treatment from the Zakat funds are cancer patients and most of them are women suffering from breast and blood cancer,” explained Malik Jibran.

He said patients applying for free treatment services for all other diseases were hardly 35 per cent.“If the government includes INOR in its health facilities list, the patients could avail treatment services without any hardship,” said the District Zakat Committee chairman.