KARACHI: Federal and provincial health leaders, global experts, researchers and development partners at a two-day symposium pressed for a shift toward evidence-informed and technology-driven health policymaking in Pakistan to improve care.
The event was organised and hosted by the Aga Khan University (AKU), in collaboration with Exemplars in Global Health and Results for Development (R4D), which examined how policy lessons from countries including Kenya, Malawi, Bolivia and Senegal could be adapted to Pakistan.
The cross-country evidence highlighted that progress is achieved through a combination of factors rather than a single intervention: sustained political commitment, supportive policy environments, increased domestic investment, strengthened health systems, availability of a wider range of contraceptive methods, community engagement, partnerships with non-governmental organisations and the effective use of data to guide decision-making.
These lessons, the speakers observed, could be applied to Pakistan, a country facing multiple health challenges for decades. One of them, they pointed out, was lack of progress on the maternal health front; Pakistan’s maternal mortality ratio remained at 186 deaths per 100,000 live births for at least two decades. A woman in Pakistan, they shared, died from pregnancy-related complications roughly every 50 minutes.
The situation, they shared, underscored the need for evidence-informed reforms.
Highlighting the event’s objectives, Dr Zahid Memon, the symposium’s convener and section head of Health Policy and Management at AKU’s Community Health Sciences Department said, “The objective is not simply to exchange ideas, but to identify actionable lessons. Improving health outcomes in Pakistan begins with improving the quality of our services and strengthening the systems that deliver them through innovative approaches, including artificial intelligence.”
“People should be at the heart of development as evidence without impact doesn’t have much significance,” said Dr Muhammad Amjad Saqib, founder and chairman Akhuwat, pointing to the importance of economic development in improving lives: “Akhuwat has disbursed $1.8 billion in interest-free loans, helped 4 million families, and maintained a 99 per cent recovery rate - a figure that speaks to the credibility of people.”
Published in Dawn, July 12th, 2026
