ISLAMABAD, May 31: More than 45 per cent of the population has no access to health facilities while 30 per cent do not get clean drinking water, MNA Ayla Malik said on Saturday.

She was speaking at an art exhibition arranged by Pakistan Red Crescent Society to commemorate World Red Cross/Red Crescent Day at a local hotel.

Giving a brief account of the present health situation of the country, Ms Malik said Pakistan was the world’s seventh most populous country with an estimated population of 140 million of which 70 per cent live in the rural areas.

As many as 61 per cent of the population is illiterate, life expectancy is 63 years and infant mortality rate stands at 87 per 1,000, she added.

She said the maternal mobility of Pakistan was five per thousand, 25 per cent of the new-born babies were underweight and 62 per cent of the children under five years suffered from malnutrition.

Ms Malik said it was heartening to see that under such terrible conditions, the Pakistan Red Crescent Society (PRCS) was striving to rid the country of such odds.