Thousands of cancer patients from Islamabad, Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan will receive free medicines worth nearly Rs10 million each under a five-year public–private partnership.
Five-Year Public–Private Partnership for Cancer Treatment
Cancer patients from Islamabad, Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan are set to receive major financial relief as the federal government launches a new partnership to provide life-saving medicines free of cost. Under a five-year public–private initiative, each eligible patient will receive medicines worth nearly Rs10 million, easing one of the heaviest financial burdens faced by households dealing with cancer.
The Ministry of National Health Services signed an agreement on Friday with Roche, a multinational pharmaceutical company, to deliver the programme. Speaking at the signing ceremony, Federal Health Secretary Hamed Yaqoob Sheikh said the initiative would benefit cancer patients from Islamabad, Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan over the coming years. He added that the partnership is expected to support thousands of patients during its five-year duration.
Under the agreement, the Government of Pakistan will contribute Rs1 million per patient, while Roche will cover the remaining Rs9 million in medicine costs. This cost-sharing model combines public funds with private sector capacity so that more patients can receive advanced treatments that would normally be far beyond the reach of low- and middle-income families.
Officials say the arrangement reflects a wider move towards public–private collaboration in healthcare. In this case, the government’s contribution signals a clear policy commitment to cancer care, while Roche’s larger share of the medicine cost helps scale up the number of patients who can be treated without overloading the federal health budget.
How the Rs10 Million Per Patient Support Will Work
Federal Health Minister Mustafa Kamal explained that the treatment facility for this programme will be available at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) in Islamabad. Eligible patients from Islamabad, Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan will receive their treatment through PIMS, which will act as a hub hospital for the three regions. This centralised model is intended to ensure that medicines are properly stored, administered and monitored by specialist teams.
The minister said the programme would cover patients suffering from lung, liver and breast cancer, three of the most serious and costly forms of the disease. By focusing on these high-burden cancers, officials hope to save lives and improve survival chances where treatment is often delayed or abandoned because families cannot afford repeated, expensive cycles of medicine over many years.
Treatment at PIMS for Patients from Three Regions
Mustafa Kamal highlighted the wider financial crisis created by illness in Pakistan. He noted that health shocks have pushed nearly 13 million people below the poverty line, as families sell assets, take loans or cut back on basic needs to pay for treatment. He added that cancer therapy alone costs about Rs9.8 million per patient over five years, a figure unaffordable for most households without external support.
These numbers show how even middle-income families can quickly fall into poverty when faced with a major illness. Long-term cancer therapy often requires multiple drugs, hospital visits and tests. Without structured support, many patients either abandon treatment midway due to cost or never begin therapy at all. The new partnership aims to change this by covering the bulk of medicine costs from the start.
High Cost of Cancer and Impact on Poverty in Pakistan
The health minister also stressed that real healthcare reform must include both treatment and prevention. While advanced medicines are critical for patients already diagnosed with cancer, reducing long-term disease burden also depends on safer environments and healthier lifestyles, including basic measures such as access to clean drinking water.
Reducing Financial and Emotional Burden on Families
At the ceremony, officials credited the prime minister’s leadership for ongoing improvements in the health sector. They noted that cancer does not only affect the patient; it impacts entire families emotionally, socially and financially, especially when a breadwinner or key caregiver falls ill.
By taking on a large share of treatment costs, the new initiative aims to ease both the financial and emotional burden on families. For patients from Islamabad, Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan, the promise of up to Rs10 million in free medicines over five years could mean the difference between abandoning treatment and receiving consistent specialist care. If implemented effectively, the programme could also serve as a model for future partnerships to tackle other high-cost diseases in Pakistan.
