The health sector in Pakistan has always lacked in meeting the needs of rapidly growing population. The blame simply falls upon the level of corruption with the sector, lack of research based practices ie, more stress upon curative rather than preventive measures, mismanagement of fund allocated for the sector and the infrastructural weakness of hospitals under the public system.
Corruption overshadows the health sector and can be classified into financial and non-financial aspects. Financial issues include illegal fees from the patients, informal payments, alteration in financial records for personal gains, draining out from public fund etc. The non-financial aspects may be listed as preferred treatment to patients (patients having some sort of political support or somehow knows the doctors are preferred over those who do not), staff absenteeism, biased hiring practices and rude staff behaviour.
Lack of research in order to curb the disease before it spreads all over the country has remained Pakistan’s top most problem in improving the health sector. Our officials simply neglect the quote “Prevention is better than cure” and still are pursuing with the same degree of ignorance, unmindful of the vast research for health based issues throughout the globe.
Yet, another weakness that prevails in the health sector is the lack of proper planning while utilising the funds allocated for the sector. Officers, who implement the distribution of funds, are sometimes or on most occasions, lack necessary skills required for that particular position.
Moreover, one cannot deny the amount allocated for this sector in barely enough to meet the growing demand for health provision. Public hospitals by far have portrayed the worst of scenarios where lack of proper facilities and poor condition of infrastructure places the nail in the coffin.
SHAIKH USAMA NASIR
Lahore