Dr Faisal recommends monitoring of health coverage service index

Islamabad: The PM’s Special Advisor on Health Dr. Faisal Sultan Wednesday recommended national monitoring of the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) Service Index for all provinces in order to ascertain the trajectory of progress made towards the UHC target by 2030.

“Pakistan is a signatory to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the health-related SDGs entail that Pakistan achieves a UHC Service Index score of 80. The country’s score has improved from 40 in 2015 to 50 in the year 2020,” Dr. Faisal apprised participants of an event organized by the Ministry of Health Services in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO) here to commemorate UHC Day.

Aside from Dr. Faisal, WHO Representative Dr. Palitha Mahipala, Director General Health Dr. Rana Safdar, Senior UHC Advisor-WHO Dr. Zafar Mirza, DG Health Punjab Dr. Haroon Jahangir, provincial representatives, and development partners attended the event.

Dr. Faisal urged all provinces/areas to strengthen the health service delivery systems with a focus on implementation of the UHC packages. Pakistan has made significant progress on UHC advancement over the last couple of years and has progressed towards development and implementation of Essential Health Services Package (EPHS). UHC ensures that all people have access to the health services they need, when and where they need them, without financial hardship.

The SAPM shared that the Ministry of Health Services is committed to making all-out efforts to effectively coordinate and contribute towards better health of citizens. “This is a time for vigorous and positive action. We are expanding health coverage by virtue of the Sehat Insaf Card to all parts of the country. By March 2022, free medical facilities will be available throughout Punjab under the UHC package; these services are already available in KPK, FATA, Tharparkar, and AJK.

WHO Representative Dr Palitha Mahipala mentioned that the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed long-ignored risks, including inadequate health systems, gaps in social protection and structural inequalities. He expressed that UHC is about overcoming the systemic barriers people face when seeking health care, whether geographic, financial, or discriminatory. He stressed that investing more public funds in health and allocating them strategically, will help reduce out-of-pocket expenses and improve the availability of quality health services. He congratulated Dr. Faisal on development of EPHS package/UHC BP and its provincial localization, and called for involvement of the private sector in implementation of UHC BP with a primary focus on PHC.

Dr. Zafar Mirza reinforced that UHC should be seen as an investment in human capital and a foundational driver of inclusive and sustainable economic growth and development. He further called increasing investments in health.

UHC Day marks the anniversary of the historic endorsement of UHC in 2012 as an essential priority for development. Every year, the world celebrates UHC Day to raise awareness of the need for strong, equitable and resilient health systems and UHC. This year’s theme ‘Leave No One’s Health Behind: Invest in Health System for All,’ acknowledges the importance of a strong and resilient health system and UHC.