Pakistan’s Progress on Ensuring Healthy Lives and Promoting Well-Being

Preamble

Ensuring healthy lives and promoting well-being is essential to sustainable development goals. The world is facing a global health crisis like no other. Due to COVID-19, unprecedented health, economic, and social crisis is threatening the lives of millions of people, making the achievement of SDGs goals more challenging. This blog presents the relevance and significance of SDG goal 3 and its progress in Pakistan.

Research Questions

1. What is SDG goal 3, good health and well-being’s importance?

2. What is Pakistan’s background in SDG3?

3. What has Pakistan achieved towards implementing SDG3?

Introduction

In 2015, the Millennium development goals (MDGs) were replaced by seventeen sustainable development goals (SDGs) to ensure peace and prosperity for all by 2030. The goals demand a transformation in the financial, economic, and political systems of the world we live in to ensure human rights for all. Ensuring healthy lives and promoting well-being is essential to sustainable development goals. The world is facing a global health crisis like no other. Due to COVID-19, unprecedented health, economic, and social crisis is threatening the lives of millions of people, making the achievement of SDGs goals more challenging. Goal 3, ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all, is becoming more and more relevant as the world emerges out of a pandemic. Health plays a central role in SDG 3, and nearly all the other goals are somewhat related to health, or their achievement will contribute to health indirectly. Pakistan has achieved a lot in terms of developing and implementing its National Health Vision 2016-2025. But efforts are still needed to improve child and maternal health along with HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases.

Ensuring Healthy Lives and Promoting Well Being

The world has witnessed significant progress in improving the health of millions of people. Maternal and child mortality rates have been reduced, life expectancy continues to increase globally, and the fight against infectious diseases has made steady progress. Since the creation of the Millennium Developmental Goals, there have been significant achievements in reducing child mortality, improving maternal health, and tackling HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, and other diseases. The number of people newly infected by HIV each year has dropped from 3.1 million to 2 million. Since 1990, maternal mortality fell by 45 per cent, and worldwide there has been an over 50 per cent decline in preventable child deaths  (SDG Fund, 2021). SDG 3, good health and well-being, aims to reduce the global mortality ratio to less than 70 per 100,000 live births, end the epidemics of communicable diseases, prevent substance abuse, ensure universal access to health services, support and research the development of vaccines, and substantially increase health financing in developing countries. The pandemic has interrupted childhood immunisation programs in more than 70 countries worldwide (United Nations, 2020).  This will ultimately increase illness and deaths from communicable diseases, while healthcare disruptions could reverse decades of improvements. In 2018, an estimated 6.2 million children and adolescents under the age of 15 died, mostly from preventable causes. Malnourished children have a higher risk of death from common childhood illnesses such as diarrhoea, pneumonia, and malaria. Over 40 per cent of all countries have fewer than 10 medical doctors per 10,000 people, and 94 percent of all maternal deaths occur in lower-middle-income countries. Globally, adolescent girls and young women face gender-based inequalities, exclusion, discrimination and violence, which put them at increased risk of acquiring diseases (UNAID, 2020).

Pakistan’s on SDG 3: Good Health and Wellbeing

Average life expectancy has increased from 59 years in 1990 to 67 years by 2015, and the maternal mortality rate has also improved significantly in the past decade owing to the wide outreach of the national LHW program and better-skilled birth attendance availability (NIPS, 2008) (Ministry of Finance, 2016). Pakistan faces a double burden of disease as the burden is higher in the poor, and many of these conditions can be controlled at relatively low costs. Communicable diseases, maternal health issues, and undernutrition dominate health issues in Pakistan. It is also one of the remaining countries where Polio is still endemic. Pakistan also has an endemicity of hepatitis B and C, tuberculosis, malaria, and an established HIV concentration. Pakistan has one of the highest prevalences of underweight children in South Asia. Similarly, stunting, micronutrient deficiencies and low birth weight babies contribute to an already high level of mortality in mothers and children. Non-communicable diseases, population explosion, unequal access to health, and low-capacity health systems contribute to Pakistan’s woes in achieving SDG 3 goals comprehensively.

Despite several social, economic, political, and cross-border challenges compounded by natural catastrophes, the health indicators of Pakistan have shown an improvement; however, it still lags behind some regional countries. National health security is increasingly threatened in Pakistan due to population growth, rising urbanisation, environmental pollution, and change in the lifestyle of people. The good health of citizens can contribute positively to the economic and social development of a country, and therefore, the issue should be addressed through a diverse set of policy tools. Similarly, good nutrition has a direct impact on the health and well-being of human life. Pakistan’s government has remained committed to improving the health care facilities and provision of good nutrition for effectively utilising the human potential of the country. The COVID19 pandemic has added further risks to an already vulnerable population. Various public health programmes have been adopted to reduce disease and disability. World Health Organization (WHO) has been actively participating in promoting and protecting healthcare worldwide. They have helped devise responsive mechanisms to health emergencies, public vaccination programs, and controlling the spread of Poliovirus. Pakistan’s health indicators have improved in the last three years compared to other regional countries, with life expectancy standing at 67 years and infant mortality being 57 per 1000 births. Maternal mortality stands at 140 per 100,000 live births and an under-five mortality rate of 70 per 1000 (Ministry of Finance , 2020).

The Government of Pakistan realises that access to healthcare facilities is of the utmost importance. There is a strong impetus to achieve universal health coverage through health sector reform, population control, and strengthening family-based healthcare in the country. Pakistan became a signatory to the International Health Partnership (IHP+) in 2010 and published a National Health Vision 2016-2025. The government is constantly looking to increase health spending through Technical Assistance (TA) from the World Bank, which will form better strategies for access to healthcare and financial risk protection. Pakistan is also advancing towards achieving universal birth registration and sensitising health institutions for improving mental health, human security, and social justice through health financing. Health expenditure in Pakistan increased from Rs 416 billion to Rs 421 billion last year, and various programs through the Public Sector Development Program (PSDP) are being commenced (The News, 2020). The Sehat Sahulat Program (SSP) is a flagship program of social health protection, ensuring that the identified underprivileged citizens around the country get access to their entitled medical health in a swift and dignified manner. The SSP program achieved an overall enrolment of 59 per cent of households countrywide and showed a satisfaction rate of 97 per cent (Ministry of Finance, 2020). The Federal government, along with the provincial health departments, are implementing dengue control measures in collaboration with WHO. Other measures include expanded programs for immunisation, polio eradication initiatives, a safe blood transfusion services program, and a malaria control program. New initiatives include a reduction in the prevalence of tobacco use in Pakistan, civil registration and vital statistics, and the establishment of the Pakistan Science Foundation to carry out various activities and programs for public welfare.

Conclusion

Good health and well-being are high on the agenda of the Pakistani government. Several initiatives have been taken to address the problems of child mortality, maternal health, spread of communicable and non-communicable diseases, and health financing. Pakistan is generally improving in achieving its SDG 3 targets. As the world continues to experience increased deaths due to malnutrition and poor health services, Pakistan is providing safety nets to its population which have a staggering success rate of 97 per cent. This shows that Pakistan is deeply committed to achieving its targets in SDG 3, good health and well-being.

Key Takeaways

1. In 2015, the Millennium development goals (MDGs) were replaced by seventeen sustainable development goals (SDGs) to ensure peace and prosperity for all by 2030.

2. Ensuring healthy lives and promoting well-being is essential to sustainable development goals. The world is facing a global health crisis like no other.

3. Due to COVID-19, unprecedented health, economic, and social crisis is threatening the lives of millions of people, making the achievement of SDGs goals more challenging.

4. Health plays a central role in SDG 3, and nearly all the other goals are somewhat related to health, or their achievement will contribute to health indirectly.

5. Pakistan has achieved a lot in terms of developing and implementing its National Health Vision 2016-2025. But efforts are still needed to improve child and maternal health along with HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases.

6. Since the creation of the Millennium Developmental Goals, there have been significant achievements in reducing child mortality, improving maternal health, and tackling HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, and other diseases.

7. The number of people newly infected by HIV each year has dropped from 3.1 million to 2 million. Since 1990, maternal mortality fell by 45 percent, and worldwide there has been an over 50 percent decline in preventable child deaths (SDG Fund, 2021).

8. The pandemic has interrupted childhood immunisation programs in more than 70 countries worldwide (United Nations , 2020).

9. In 2018, an estimated 6.2 million children and adolescents under the age of 15 died, mostly from preventable causes.

10. Malnourished children have a higher risk of death from common childhood illnesses such as diarrhoea, pneumonia, and malaria. Over 40 percent of all countries have fewer than 10 medical doctors per 10,000 people, and 94 percent of all maternal deaths occur in lower-middle-income countries.

11. Globally, adolescent girls and young women face gender-based inequalities, exclusion, discrimination and violence, which put them at increased risk of acquiring diseases (UNAID, 2020).

Bibliography

Ministry of Finance . (2020). Economic Survey of Pakistan 2019-20.

Ministry of Finance. (2016). Economic Survey of Pakistan 2016-17.

NIPS. (2008). National Institute of Population Studies & Macro International. Pakistan Demographic & Health Survey 2006-7.

SDG Fund. (2021). GOAL 3 GOOD HEALTH AND WELL-BEING. Retrieved from Joint SDG Fund: https://jointsdgfund.org/sustainable-development-goals/goal-3-good-health-and-well-being#:~:text=SDG%203%20aspires%20to%20ensure,medicines%20and%20vaccines%20for%20all.

The News. (2020). Health spending far less than WHO recommendation. Retrieved from The News: https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/672806-health-spending-far-less-than-who-recommendation

UNAID. (2020). Global HIV & AIDS statistics — 2020 fact sheet. Retrieved from UNAIDS: https://www.unaids.org/en/resources/fact-sheet

United Nations . (2020). The Sustainable Developmental Goals Report 2020. Retrieved from United Nations.