Radio Pakistan reported that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said the government would bear patients’ medical treatment costs at the Pakistan-China Friendship Hospital in Islamabad. The hospital was inaugurated on 29 October. The sources reviewed do not specify eligibility or which costs are covered.
Who manages the hospital, and what care is listed?
Indus Hospital and Health Network (IHHN) says it runs the hospital through a public-private partnership with the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination. IHHN’s hospital page lists emergency medicine, family medicine and primary care, general surgery, intensive and high-dependency care, infectious diseases, internal medicine, obstetrics and gynaecology, operating theatres, orthopaedics and paediatric medicine. It lists emergency and inpatient services as available 24/7.
Where is the hospital?
IHHN lists the address as Kuri Road, near Zong Headquarters, Mohran Jejan, Islamabad. The contact field on its page says “TBD,” and no hospital phone number was listed there when checked.
What does the free-treatment announcement establish?
Radio Pakistan reported that Shehbaz Sharif said the government would bear the entire cost of patients’ medical treatment at the hospital. It also reported that he referred to patients from Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Azad Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and other parts of the country.
The announcement does not set out patient eligibility, referral or admission steps, or which medicines, tests and procedures are covered. It also does not establish that every service listed by IHHN is included in the funding commitment. Readers should treat the promise as the prime minister’s reported announcement until detailed rules are published.
