Dr Sania Nishtar Appraises Ehsaas Tahafuz Program

ISLAMABAD: Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Poverty Alleviation Dr. Sania Nishtar has said that Ehsaas Tahafuz is Pakistan’s first shock-oriented precision safety net and is centered on protecting the deserving patients from catastrophic health expenditures.

Talking to the media in Rawalpindi on wednesday, after the visit of Holy Family Hospital on the eve of World Health Day, this programme is yielding great results and is being up scaled.  

Already the Ehsaas Tahafuz Pilot Project’s tender rolled out the official website, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf Government expanding Ehsaas Program which has become flagship initiative of this government after Naya Pakistan Scheme.

Read More: Ehsaas Emergency Cash Program Portal to check Application Status

The visit was aimed at commemorating the World Health Day 2021. During the course of the quick appraisal visit, Dr. Sania held a meeting with Ehsaas Tahafuz’s technical team of medical experts, hospital administrators and programme verifiers, took stock of the progress and gained firsthand insights for programme expansion later this year.

Briefing the media after the Tahafuz stocktake, Dr. Sania shared, “Ehsaas Tahafuz is Pakistan’s first shock-oriented precision safety net. The programme is centered on protecting the deserving patients from catastrophic health expenditures. Enhancements are being planned to expand its scale and scope later this year based on lessons of the pilot.”

She then continued, “The programme is yielding great results and is being upscaled. This innovative “fund based” approach to health financing is complementing health insurance, to achieve universal health coverage (UHC) in Pakistan, a policy priority of our government to build back better, in a post COVID-19 context.”

Ehsaas Tahafuz is being implemented in collaboration with the HFH to identify patients facing catastrophic health expenditures, who are not covered by Sehat Sahulat Card or are in hospital not registered with Sehat Sahulat programme; they are evaluated by the system, and if eligible, are provided funding by allocating donations to the patient.

To assist with this, a facilitation desk has also been established at the HFH to identify the eligible beneficiaries for Tahafuz pilot.

At the venue, Dr. Sania was welcomed by Dr. Shazia Zeb Medical Superintendent of HFH and her team. Alongside, Muhammad Ali Shahzada, Secretary Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety Division (PASSD) and senior officials from Ehsaas Tahafuz team were also in attendance.

Currently, the programme is patient centric and caters to one-time high health costs for those who lack ability to bear the heavy expenditures.

When fully operational, Ehsaas Tahafuz will serve as a one-window and web-based precision safety net across the country.

About Ehsaas

The Division of Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety is unique since it was purpose-established to implement the umbrella initiative, Ehsaas. Launched on March 27, 2019, the objective of Ehsaas is to reduce inequality, invest in people, and lift lagging districts. Ehsaas is about the creation of a ‘welfare state’ by countering elite capture and leveraging 21st-century tools—such as using data and technology to create precision safety nets; promoting financial inclusion and access to digital services; supporting economic empowerment of women.

Ehsaas Tahafuz Pilot Project Team leader, Mushtaq Ur Rehman

• Tahafuz Pilot Project (TPP)
• Poverty Alleviation & Social Safety Division
• 21, Mauve area, 2nd Floor, Statistics House, Islamabad
• 051-9106509, 9245238, 9245078

Here is a list of Ehsaas Programs introduced by the Government of Pakistan:

• Ehsaas Emergency Cash Program (First Phase).
• Ehsaas Emergency Cash Programme (COVID-19 Fund for Labourers).
• Ehsaas Rashan Program.
• Imdad Insaf Program.
• Kamyab Jawan Program.

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