CHANDIGARH; Punjab’s flagship Mukh Mantri Sehat Yojna is emerging as a critical pillar of healthcare security, offering ₹10 lakh coverage per family and enabling faster access to treatment while reducing financial stress during sudden medical emergencies. As illnesses such as heart attack, cancer, and birth complications continue to strike without warning, the Punjab Government’s approach is increasingly centred on bridging the gap between medical urgency and affordability through large-scale public health intervention.
Illnesses like heart attack, cancer, and birth complications can strike without any red flags, causing sudden, severe symptoms and requiring immediate medical attention to prevent serious complications. This suggests that such health conditions often develop silently and strike without warning, leaving little room for delay or indecision. In Punjab, this growing concern is increasingly being viewed through the lens of financial preparedness, with government-backed initiatives like the Mukh Mantri Sehat Yojna aiming to bridge the gap between medical urgency and affordability.
According to the Department of Health and Family Welfare, Punjab, the government, led by CM Bhagwant Singh Mann, is running the health scheme that gives every family free medical treatment up to ₹10 lakh per year. It covers treatment for over 2, 300 diseases in both government and private hospitals.
Highlighting the hidden onset of major diseases, global health data underscores the urgency of early intervention. The World Health Organisation informs that diseases like heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and long-term breathing problems cause about 75% of deaths worldwide every year, and many people don’t even know they’re at risk until it’s too late. “By the time patients come to us, the disease is often at an advanced stage, ” said Dr Esha Arora, Medical officer (medicine), district hospital, Mohali. “Early detection can help improve outcomes, but it is still not prioritised. Routine screenings remain underutilised, largely because the absence of symptoms creates a false sense of security, ” she added.