The Pakistan health care system is trying to make further improvements in the concerned sector. A modest development has been seen in the health sector such as making health policies, participating in the Millennium Development Goals program, initiating vertical programs and introducing Public-Private Partnership, improving human resource development, and infrastructure by making Basic Health Unit and Rural Health Centres. Furthermore, immunisation programs, such as the Expanded Program on Immunisation (EPI), have been introduced to increase vaccination coverage in Pakistan from 5% to 84%. Under this programme, countless people have been working to eradicate vaccine-preventable diseases, such as measles, polio and neonatal tetanus.
However, poor governance, lack of access and unequal resources, poor quality of Health Information Management (HIM) systems, corruption in the health system, lack of monitoring in health policy and health planning, and lack of trained staff have hindered the progress of the concerned sector.
The government needs to transform its health system performance to confront outbreaks that continue to threaten the population. The World Health Organisation has recommended that Pakistan’s Ministry of Health increase healthcare expenditures from 2% to 5% of its GDP. Doing so will end controllable diseases and ensure that the healthcare system will be able to deal with dangerous outbreaks in the future. Policymakers should realise the importance of investing in the health sector to achieve better outcomes. The development partners, including WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA, WFP and FAO, need to sync their efforts with Pakistan’s public policy to improve health, nutrition, and population indicators significantly.
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