KARACHI, April 11: For about half the period since independence, Pakistan has been ruled by armymen who do not attach enough importance to issues in healthcare. As a consequence, the health of the people is deteriorating rapidly.

This was observed on Sunday by some speakers at a seminar, entitled "Tall economic claims of the government and deteriorating health condition of the masses", held in the PMA House by the People's Doctors Forum (PDF).

The speakers, mostly doctors, were of the opinion that under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, healthcare services were the right of the people and not a privilege. The denial of access to the same violated the constitution of the country as well.

Dr Habibur Rehman Soomro, in his hard-hitting speech said that the military rulers had never sought to establish a system under which the health of the masses could be looked after. He presented several indicators in support of his contention that the generals who ruled the country largely failed the people they "lorded" it over.

"According to international standards, for every doctor in the country we should have between 15 and 20 nurses," he said. "But in Pakistan, the doctor-to-nurse ratio defies all logic. We have one nurse for eight doctors." Similarly, the maternal death rate was a whopping 550 per 100,000 live births. "This means that in Pakistan, three women die every hour of pregnancy-related complications." Of the 1,000 newborns, some 120 die during the first month of their lives.

Dr Soomro, a former secretary-general of the Pakistan Medical Association (PMA), was of the opinion that the military rulers' priorities were wrong. "Almost since independence, we have been spending more than half of our budget on defence or debt servicing. As a result, not enough is spent on education and health."

He pointed out that recently the provincial health minister had admitted that some 400 Basic Health Units (BHUs) and Rural Health Centres (RHCs) in Sindh remained non-operational. "This only shows that the primary healthcare system has simply collapsed."

It was tragic, he said, that in more than half a century since independence, the state had failed in providing safe and clean water to the public. "It is good that liver and kidney transplantations can now be undertaken in the country.

"But let me put a simple question to you. Had the government provided safe water to the people, say, 10 years ago wouldn't we be better off because we would not be in need of transplantations too much?" He demanded of the government that clean potable water be provided to all the people. "Also, the primary healthcare system be strengthened."

Speaking on the occasion, Dr Karim Khwaja of the People's Doctors Forum said the government's claims that the economy was growing at 5 to 6 per cent per annum were false. "All the indicators suggest that these figures are inflated. The people belonging to the interior of the province will tell you how the prevalence of malaria and hepatitis etc is rising sharply," he said.

Dr Mohammad Bakhsh Dahani said polio was eradicated in Iran and other countries of the region in five rounds. "In contrast, Pakistan has had 40 rounds of anti-polio campaign and yet polio has not been banished from the country." Some 15,000 qualified doctors were without jobs. Dr Dahani demanded that the doctors be provided with employment under a properly formulated job structure.