Govt urged to focus on preventive healthcare

ISLAMABAD: Former federal health ministers, parliamentarians and health experts on Thursday termed the non-communicable diseases (NCDs) a major challenge after economy and population growth, urging the newly-formed government to focus on prevention of diseases and primary healthcare.

Claiming that over 1,500 people were having heart attacks in a day in Pakistan and around 1,000 of them were dying daily due to cardiovascular disease, they called for doubling the funds for healthcare, spending more on primary healthcare instead of building large tertiary-care hospitals and prevention of diseases.

Speaking at pre-budget roundtable, organised by the Pakistan National Heart Association (Panah) at a local hotel, many parliamentarians and health experts called for raising taxes on ultra processed foods as well as beverages to make them unaffordable for the people, especially youngsters and children, saying their availability and excessive consumption was giving rise to obesity, hypertension, diabetes and ultimately the cardiovascular diseases.

The roundtable meeting was addressed by former Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM) Dr Zafar Mirza, former caretaker federal health minister Dr Nadeem Jan, Senator Humayun Mohmand, MNAs Sehr Kamran and Dr Shaista Jadoon, President of Panah Maj. Gen. (retd) Masudur Rehman Kiani, Country Coordinator of Global Health Advocacy Incubator Munawar Hussain, and former chairperson of the National Commission on the Rights of the Child Ms Afshan Tehseen Bajwa, alongside the parliamentarians and health professionals.

Former SAPM on health Dr Zafar Mirza said faltering healthcare system of the country was a major challenge after economic challenge facing the country, and also termed the growing population as another serious issue, saying population growth will diffuse Pakistan’s economic growth.

Deploring that healthcare was never a national priority in Pakistan, he said over 70 percent of the health’s budget is spent on constructing large hospitals, because it is an easy job and called for spending on primary healthcare as well as public-private partnerships to provide healthcare facilities to masses.

Calling for adopting preventive health practices, he said instead of spending billions on liver transplants centres, where around 10 million rupees were being charged for the liver transplants, a few thousand rupees could be spent to screen a person for viral hepatitis and its treatment, if a person is infected with Hepatitis B or C.

Other health experts underscored the significant role of unhealthy diets as a major modifiable risk factor for NCDs. Ultra-processed food and beverage products (UPPs), laden with high levels of sugar, salt, and trans-fats, have emerged as a major contributor to the escalating health crisis, they added.

To combat this growing burden of diseases, experts advocated for evidence-based strategies, including the implementation of increased excise taxes on UPPs. This policy intervention aims to reduce consumption of unhealthy products and mitigate associated health risks, they said, urging the parliamentarians to support this initiative by incorporating increased excise taxes on solid and liquid UPPs in the upcoming Finance Bill 2024-25.

Dr Nadeem Jan emphasised the urgency of preventive measures to alleviate the burden of NCDs, highlighting initiatives such as the ban on sugary drinks during his tenure.

Panah President Masudur Rehman Kiani provided insights into modifiable risk factors associated with NCDs, advocating for policy actions to reduce consumption of unhealthy foods.

Munawar Hussain presented evidence-based policy options to curb the consumption of UPPs, including increasing excise taxes on sweetened beverages and imposing front-of-pack warning labels on UPPs high in salt, sugar, and unhealthy fats.

He stressed the importance of allocating revenue generated from taxes for public health programmes and subsidising healthier food alternatives, emphasising the critical role of policymakers in addressing the country’s escalating health crisis.