Better healthcare stressed

Islamabad : Minister of State for Health Dr Zafar Mirza has said that no country can achieve improvements on health indicators including child mortality rate, life expectancy rate etc. without an effective and quality primary healthcare.

The minister of state was delivering the keynote address at a talk on ‘Health Vision of Government of Pakistan’ organised here by Sustainable Development Policy Institute.

Dr Mirza said that the government vision is to ensure universal healthcare coverage (UHC) for every individual which included the full spectrum of essential, quality health services, from health promotion to prevention, treatment, rehabilitation and palliative care.

He said primary that healthcare is the backbone and foundation for improved healthcare system in a country being ignored since long in Pakistan. He said that healthcare system has become disease-oriented rather health-oriented where health is much larger subject which includes physical and mental health, social health and wellbeing. He lamented that right to health was not guaranteed in our constitutions since 1947 owing to lopsided and inconsistent policies that made Pakistan a hospital-oriented country. He regretted that 70 to 80 per cent health budget goes to big hospitals and Basic Health Unites (BHUs) are not provided even much needed basic facilities.

He observed that major macro level programmes of health sector such as Hepatitis, Malaria and HIV control programmes were either weakened or closed largely due to lack of proper coordination among provinces and centre after 18th amendment. He said that devolution of power does not mean that the Federal Government is absolved of its national responsibilities.