ISLAMABAD: The federal government of Pakistan has announced the revival of the Sehat Sahulat Program, aiming to provide free medical treatment to eligible residents of Islamabad and Rawalpindi.
Minister for National Health, Syed Mustafa Kamal, revealed that the long-lapsed program has been revived in order to ensure that poor or vulnerable sections of society are provided with good healthcare services.
On his tour to the Dr. Akbar Niazi Teaching Hospital, the federal minister highlighted the importance of the initiative taken by the government. “Many deserving families would enjoy the benefits of this service-free health care scheme,” Kamal said.
Through the revival of the program, 42 hospitals located in Islamabad and Rawalpindi cities would be enrolled in the process, offering a range of free medical services including treatments for diseases, surgeries, lab tests, and others.
The minister further added that strong monitoring measures would be put in place to make sure there is no misuse of available resources. Hospitals that violate any rules or are guilty of corruption will face stringent actions, up to their expulsion from the program.
He noted that the program is not only meant for giving medication but also about regaining the trust of the people in the country’s healthcare system. Further, he added that the government is considering ways of expanding the program to cover the entire country.
Smoking can increase risk of bladder cancer up to four times, health experts
Although smoking is commonly associated with lung cancer, experts warn that it also significantly increases the risk of bladder cancer. Blood in the urine can often be an early and important symptom of the disease.
According to experts, smoking is generally known to increase the risk of lung cancer, but smoking also significantly increases the risk of bladder cancer and occasional smokers in adolescence are also at risk of cancer.
In this regard, an Indian doctor says that the risk of bladder cancer in smokers is two to four times higher than that of non-smokers, due to which tobacco use is considered one of the biggest risks for this disease.
Dr. Ankur Bhatnagar said that smoking is a major cause of bladder cancer. The cancer-causing chemicals (carcinogens) present in cigarette smoke are absorbed into the body through the lungs and reach the kidneys through the bloodstream.
He said that they are excreted from the kidneys in the urine. When the bladder stores urine, these harmful substances remain in contact with the inner lining of the bladder for a long time, which can cause cancer-causing changes in the cells and thus cause bladder cancer.
