Pakistan Economic Survey of 2010-2011 reveals that infant mortality per thousand in Pakistan is 63.3 which is the highest in South East Asia. Infant mortality is the lowest in Sri Lanka at 9.7 per 1000 while in India, it is 47.6 and in China, 16.1 while the figure for Indonesia stands 27.1 and that of Malaysia at 15. As such, Pakistan has the highest rate of infant mortality amongst 10 countries including Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand.
It is a wake up call for health department officials who must improve the situation as health expenditure as % of GDP is only 0.23% in 2010-11 while in 2000-01 it was 0.72 per cent of GDP. It appears that public sector health expenditure is lagging behind while private sector is investing heavily in the health sector as is evident by great expansions of private hospitals and diagnostic labs that have mushroomed in the country. However, these expansive hospitals serve the wealthier section of society while the poor masses go to government hospitals and dispensaries that are relatively poorly financed.
DR MUHAMMAD YAQOOB BHATTI
Lahore