ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will most likely miss its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set by the United Nations (UN), a public health expert said on Saturday.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a collection of 17 objectives established by the UN in 2015 as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

“As tertiary care hospitals are the most integral part of the healthcare delivery system in achieving the SDGs, the government should focus on streamlining the hospitals,” Masters in Public Health and fellow Field Epidemiology Training Programme (FETP), Dr Saifur Rehman, said while talking to media persons.

He said universal health coverage (UHC) was also part of the SDGs’ target 3.8, which covered the full continuum of essential health services, from health promotion to prevention, treatment, rehabilitation and palliative care.

“The World Health Organisation (WHO) defines UHC as all people having access to the full range of quality health services they need, when and where they need them, without financial hardship,” he said. Pakistan is ranked 124th out of 195 countries worldwide in terms of health service delivery. “It is self-explanatory that Pakistan is lagging far behind in achieving the health targets of the SDGs,” he added.

If we talk about the capital’s largest tertiary care hospital, the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims), there is a plethora of complaints about ad-hocism, Dr Rehman said. It is worth mentioning that the Islamabad High Court (IHC) is also hearing a case regarding streamlining the issues of the hospital by appointing a regular head of the institution.

In another petition filed in the IHC by petitioner Muhammad Aamir Mehboob and others, through their counsels Afnan Karim Kundi and Muhammad advocates, the recruitment process for 404 posts in the hospital has been questioned.

Dr Saif said that the Supreme Court gave a decision in 2016 regarding the appointment of heads of the hospitals, which should be implemented in true letter and spirit.

“Capital is the face of Pakistan and Pakistan needs a paradigm shift in healthcare to improve its ranking and to make significant progress in achieving SDGs by 2030,” he added.

Published in Dawn, January 5th, 2025