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Health status of Pakistan

·         Good health is pivotal to mankind’s well-being and happiness that contributes significantly to prosperity and even economic progress, as healthy population is more productive, earn more income and live longer.

·         A balanced diet, good hygienic habits, staying in a proper shelter and getting enough sleep are the basic requirements for a healthy life cycle.

·         Good health and nutrition play a pivotal role in socio-economic development of a country, whereas malnutrition and poor health are considered as barriers to socio-economic development.

·         Human welfare directly depends on good health and is also one of the main components that determine income levels

·         The COVID-19 pandemic has tested country’s health infrastructure and identified need for more investment in health sector especially for diagnostic facilities, disease surveillance, disease prevention and spread, training of health personnel and their protection from pandemic, vaccine development, up-grading health care infrastructure, emergency rooms, intensive care units, isolation wards and public awareness

Regional Comparison

·         Socio-economic factors such as health, education, income, employment etc., are closely interlinked with Human Development Indicators. Pakistan has shown improvement in health indicators over the last three years.

·         Life expectancy is increased from 66.9 years in 2017 to 67.3 years in 2019, but is still behind in the region. The infant mortality rate, maternal mortality and population growth rate have been decreased during the last three years.

Health Status

·         In order to make substantial progress on Goal 3 of Sustainable Development Goals (Good Health and Wellbeing), Government of Pakistan has given priority to strengthen health sector to further resolve and address the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic.

·         Enhanced effective coverage of skilled birth attendants, improved public sector health facilities, increased number of Basic Health Units (BHUs) and Rural Health Clinics (RHCs) equipped with essential services are the reflection of these priorities.

·         To enable effective family planning, pre- and post-pregnancy care and neonatal care, the Lady Health Workers (LHW) programme revitalized through adequate training, support and a revised service structure.

·         Pakistan’s Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) has declined from 62.1 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2015 to 55.7 in 2019, while Neonatal Mortality Rate declined from 45.2 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2015 to 41.2 in 2019.

·         Percentage of birth attended by skilled health personnel is increased from 58 percent in 2015 to 68 percent in 2020 (PSLM, 2019-20). Maternal Mortality Ratio fell from 276 maternal deaths per 100,000 births in 2006, to 189 in 2019

·         Government is committed to increase its critical workforce from 1.45 to 4.45 per 1,000 persons, in line with World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines. With a population growth rate of 1.9 percent, Pakistan’s contraceptive prevalence rate in 2019 stayed stagnant at 34.0 percent.

·         Pakistan’s tuberculosis incidence is of 263 per 100,000 population and HIV prevalence rate is 0.1 per 1,000 population in 2019 while, mortality from non-communicable diseases (NCDs) is 59.9 percent. Pakistan is exploring dedicated actions to curb the rising burden of NCDs, although, many of its efforts have been severally affected by COVID-19 pandemic repercussions.

·         Due to increasing demand in public health service delivery, the health services delivery infrastructure has expanded significantly. By the year 2020, national health infrastructure comprised of 1,282 hospitals, 5,472 BHUs, 670 RHCs, 5,743 Dispensaries, 752 Maternity & Child Health Centres and 412 TB centres, while the total availability of beds in these health facilities have been estimated at 133,707. There are 245,987 registered doctors, 27,360 registered dentists and 116,659 registered nurses in these facilities together.

Health Expenditures

·         Health expenditures have increased gradually since 2011-12. The health-related expenditure increased by 14.3 percent from Rs 421.8 billion in 2018-19 to Rs 482.3 billion in 2019-20. Public sector expenditure on health was estimated at 1.2 percent of GDP in 2019-20, as compared to 1.1 percent in 2018-19.

Health Sector Projects

 Health Sector Projects of Federal PSDP during FY2021 After the passage of 18th constitutional amendment, provision of health services is the mandate of the provincial governments however, the Federal Government has supported various health related projects through Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP), for fulfillment of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and overall health status in the country. During FY2021, PSDP allocations of Rs 20,193.9 million were made for 71 health sector projects. The details are given in table 11.5 below

In addition, government has introduced an especial programme with an outlay of Rs 70 billion to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 pandemic. The programme is focusing on upgrading health care facilities, sewerage system, solid waste management, clean drinking water and education.

The salient features of PSDP programmes related to health sector are as follows:

i)                    Sehat Sahulat Programme

ii)                  "Ehsaas" Programme, Family Planning and Primary Healthcare Programme (FP&PHC)

iii)                Expanded Programme for Immunization

iv)                Polio Eradication Initiative (PEI) Programme

v)                  National Health Emergency Preparedness & Response Network

vi)                Safe Blood Transfusion Services (SBTS) Programme

vii)              vii) Malaria Control Programme

viii)            Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) / Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) Control Programme

ix)                x) Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS)