WHO mobilises support for Pakistan’s 2030 universal health coverage agenda

ISLAMABAD: Ahead of International Universal Health Coverage Day 2024, the World Health Organization (WHO) Representative in Pakistan, Dr Dapeng Luo, urged stakeholders and donors to strengthen their support for the Government of Pakistan in reinforcing universal health coverage (UHC), particularly for the most vulnerable populations.

This call to action was one of the main conclusions of a pivotal dialogue, hosted by WHO on 3 December, that convened the Coordinator to the Prime Minister on Health, Dr Malik Mukhtar Ahmad Bharath, representatives from national authorities including the Ministry of Planning, Development and Special Initiatives, the Benazir Income Support Programme, and the Sehat Sahulat Programme, as well as national and international partners. All participants commemorated Universal Health Coverage Day under the international theme "Health: It's on the Government."

WHO Representative Luo highlighted that advancing universal health coverage “is crucial to advance the 2030 Agenda, because to achieve sustainable development we need healthy populations, healthy mothers and newborns, healthy workers, healthy families, and healthy communities.” He also emphasised that Pakistan has achieved “notable milestones” such as improving its UHC Index from 40 in 2015 to 52.7 in 2022, according to the country UHC Monitoring Report 2023. “However, half of the population still lacks access to basic health services. Achieving the target index of 65 by 2030, while still short of the global benchmark of 80, will require sustained efforts and innovative strategies,” said Dr Luo.

During the event, particular attention was paid to other significant milestones achieved by Pakistan, such as the Sehat Sahulat Program (SSP), which now provides coverage to over 190 million Pakistanis who did not have such protection before 2016 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan, Islamabad, Punjab, Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and the Tharparkar district of Sindh. The programme was initially launched for the below-poverty population in 2016 and gradually expanded to universal health coverage in 2020-2021, although the service provided still has its limitations, particularly for outpatient care. Currently, according to the last available data, at least 47pc of Pakistan's population faces out-of-pocket healthcare expenditures, leading to widespread financial hardship.

All the participants agreed on the importance of “making universal health coverage a national priority” to ensure sustainable coverage that is 1) accessible and timely for all, no matter who they are or in which province they live, 2) equitable and affordable for everyone, without posing a financial hardship for families, and 3) reliable and of good quality. In addition, the discussions underlined the importance of reinforcing prevention through primary health care. The encounter also provided an opportunity for international partners (including the International Labor Organization, the World Bank, and the German Agency for International Cooperation, GIZ) to renew their collective commitment to support Pakistani authorities in advancing universal health coverage.

As part of the commemoration of International Universal Health Coverage Day, WHO Pakistan, jointly with the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination, also launched a comprehensive package of national guidelines and training programmes aimed at bolstering reproductive, maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health across the country.

In Pakistan, around 4 million pregnant women and newborns receive every year healthcare services from the public and private sectors. “Improving the lives of these mothers and newborns is essential to ensure good health for all. No real Sustainable Development can be achieved without healthy mothers and newborns”, said WHO Representative in Pakistan.