Challenges faced by the health sector in Pakistan

Since Pakistan’s Independence, the government of the health sector has been impossible to overlook. There are many weaknesses and challenges which are currently faced by the Pakistani healthcare system. Here are some of the major challenges faced by the health sector in Pakistan.

Lack of resources:

1. Because of the weak infrastructure of BHU’s Basic Health Units and RHCs Rural Health centers, the majority of people are unwilling to use the public health systems’ healthcare service and as a result, rural people are diverted to tertiary care facilities.
2. Lack of transportation options with inadequate roads also limits access to health care services.
3. Public sector in Pakistan is underutilized due to a lack of human resources, lack of health education, lack of openness, and impediments due to linguistic and cultural differences.
4. For many people, BHUs are a nightmare.
5.  In Pakistan, the poverty rate increases day by day instead of decreasing. Poor people are even enabled to afford simple treatment.

Poor infrastructure:

1. Poor healthcare infrastructure is one of the reasons for the downfall of the healthcare system.
2. There is no proper policy-making and planning in this sector.
3. Govt. hospitals lack sufficient doctors and nurses because they serve a big population in surrounding areas. Such hospitals are frequently overcrowded.
4.  Govt. hospitals don’t have enough beds.
5. Hospitals are filthy and unhygienic, they lack security, and patient care is unheard of medicines and consumables are frequently in low supply, employees demand bribes from patients, and they may even lack essential utilities such as the continuous supply of water, power, and fuel. Ambulances may be unavailable. Leaving patients to fend for themselves.

Corruption:

1. Corruption is a serious problem faced by the health sector in Pakistan. It includes higher authority and political corruption.
2. The resources are unavailable in hospitals and other healthcare centers.
3. Corruption in the supply of medicines to patients is also a part of this thing.
4. The full budget is not used for hospitals honestly which is allocated by the federal government only for the betterment of the health sector.

Lack of educated health specialists:

1. There is a lack of educated and professional individuals, although a number of students are graduating each year. The main reason is less availability of seats in the public sector which hinders educated people to come and serve the nation.
2. Many health specialists go abroad for higher education and work there as this is a major loss for the health sector of Pakistan.
3. The latest official government estimate of the population of Pakistan is 235 million and Pakistan has 266430 Doctors, 30501 Dentists, and 44993 Midwives only. While the latest official government of the UK estimate of the population is 67.5 million, and the UK has 283,663 Doctors, 24272 Dentists, and 4846 Midwives. Pakistan has only 1201 hospitals for such a large population while the UK has 1257 hospitals.

Lack of public health insurance:

When the public health system fails, people are forced to seek treatment from private healthcare providers. Profit is the goal of healthcare facilities. There is an obvious demand, and supply in balance, and they take advantage of low supply to boost their own pricing. As a result, medical treatment in a private hospital may be more expensive than in a government hospital because a major part of our population lacks health insurance, they are obliged to pay for their own treatment.

High prices of imported products: 

1. Although Pakistan has the largest pharmaceutical industry, many medicines need to be imported from foreign countries.
2. Much surgical and other health-related machinery is imported from other countries. In this way, more budget is needed to fulfill the needs of these imported products but due to a lack of resources and increasing economical pressure, the health sector in Pakistan is enabled to meet the needs of these products that are necessary for the basic needs of citizens.

Lack of awareness:

People living in urban areas are more privileged and have access to basic health facilities. Similarly, they are well aware of health issues. But the situation in rural areas is different. People in rural areas are not well aware of vaccines, treatment, precautions, preventions, etc. This increases the pressure on the health sector of Pakistan. So it is the need of the hour to start educating people in rural areas and help them to get basic health facilities.

Suggested remedies:

1. Encouraging innovation and manufacturing (of medical devices) in Pakistan.
2. Increased investment in medical research.
3. Improving medical, nursing, and technical education as well as upskilling current works.
4. Public health insurance.
5. Awareness programs.
6. Check and Balance hospitals and other health departments to control corruption.
7. International collaboration can also be done.
8. High budgetary allocation should be for the health sector.
9. Try to make the health system of Pakistan be like as fast as England, America, France, etc.