Punjab Starts 65 Mobile Health Units for Industrial Workers in Lahore, Kasur and Sheikhupura

Punjab launched a mobile health programme with 65 units for industrial workers and their families on Monday 12 October 2026. It starts in Lahore, Kasur and Sheikhupura and is meant to reach 12 more cities by March 2027. The units are run through the Punjab Employees Social Security Institution (PESSI), and the government says they will come to factories and to workers' neighbourhoods.

PESSI posted the notice on 13 October 2026. It says Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif inaugurated the programme. We read the notice on PESSI's own website. Below is what it says, what it leaves out, and what a worker should check before expecting a unit at the gate.

The programme has 65 units in four kinds

PESSI lists 10 mobile hospitals, five mobile clinics, 40 motorcycles and 10 scooters, with dedicated dental and cardiac units also named. The mobile hospitals carry outpatient departments, X-ray, ultrasound, a basic laboratory, doctors, female doctors, radiologists and nurses.

The five mobile clinics offer telemedicine, which means a doctor who is somewhere else speaks to the patient by video or phone. The dental units give examinations and treatment. The motorcycle and scooter teams give basic medical help, first aid, essential medicines and health awareness to workers and their families. The page does not say how many doctors or technicians each vehicle carries.

Lahore, Kasur and Sheikhupura come first

The first phase covers Lahore, Kasur and Sheikhupura. PESSI says it will benefit more than 4.6 million industrial workers and their family members. The government aims to extend the programme to Gujranwala, Sialkot, Gujrat, Faisalabad, Sargodha, Sahiwal, Multan, Muzaffargarh, Dera Ghazi Khan, Bahawalpur, Rahim Yar Khan and Rawalpindi by March 2027.

March 2027 is an aim, not a notified date. If you work in one of the later cities, do not expect a unit before then. The notice does not give a timetable for each factory zone.

Heart screening is the first named campaign

The officials briefed the chief minister on a mobile screening for rheumatic heart disease. Rheumatic heart disease is damage to the heart valves that can follow untreated throat infections in childhood. The screening will cover 29,845 factories, industrial establishments and other workplaces in Lahore, Sheikhupura and Kasur.

The units will also screen about 54,000 children in workers' welfare schools across Punjab for heart conditions. The notice does not say when screening starts at a given workplace, and it does not say how a factory asks for a visit. A worker should ask the employer or the nearest PESSI office. The helpline printed on the PESSI website is 0800 73774. We did not call it.

1. Check that you are registered with PESSI through your employer.
2. Ask your employer or the PESSI office whether your factory is on the first phase list.
3. Keep your social security card or number with you.
4. Visit the unit when it reaches your workplace or neighbourhood.
5. Use the nearest social security hospital for anything the unit cannot treat.

Those steps are our practical suggestion. The notice says the programme is for registered workers, so registration comes first. The steps to get a PESSI social security card explain how a worker is registered, and the list of benefits a registered PESSI worker can claim shows what else the card opens.

The units connect to a digital hub

All field operations will connect to a digital hub at PESSI headquarters, so officials can watch the routes and activities of the units in real time. The chief minister said the 24 social security hospitals treat more than 10 million workers and family members, and 250 PESSI medical outlets also serve workers.

That monitoring is the government's description. It is not proof of results. The notice gives no data on waiting times or how many patients a unit sees in a day, because the programme has only just started. We will update this report when PESSI publishes figures. Women workers can read the steps to claim the PESSI maternity benefit, which is a separate cash benefit and not part of the mobile units.

Common questions about the PESSI mobile health units

Who can use the mobile health units?

The notice says registered industrial workers and their families. Dependants get services closer to home. It does not list a form or fee.

Is the service free?

The notice does not give a price or say it is free. Social security healthcare is described as a benefit for registered workers, so ask the PESSI office before you assume.

Which cities are covered now?

Lahore, Kasur and Sheikhupura in the first phase. Twelve more cities are targeted by March 2027.

Do the units treat serious illness?

They give basic care, diagnostics and screening. The notice says the aim is early diagnosis and treatment and less load on hospitals. Serious cases still go to a social security hospital.

How do I request a unit at my factory?

The notice does not say. Ask your employer or the nearest PESSI office, or try the helpline 0800 73774 shown on the PESSI website.

How we verified this

What we checked, where we read it, and what we could not confirm.

Last checked 14 October 2026. All figures come from the PESSI notice "Punjab Launches Mobile Health Services for Industrial Workers", dated 13 October 2026, at pessi.punjab.gov.pk, and the matching summary on the Punjab Portal. The notice says the launch was on Monday, which we read as 12 October. We did not see a unit, test the helpline or find a rollout timetable.