PESHAWAR, Feb 23: The World Health Organisation has expressed concern over what it calls meagre expenditure on the health sector and has asked the government to increase budgetary allocation for the sector.
Officials said the country office of the global health agency in Islamabad through a letter sent last month to the government had said that Pakistan spent far less than one per cent of the GDP on the health sector, which was affecting plans to provide better health facilities to people.
The letter recommends to the government to increase the allocation for the health sector to four per cent of the GDP.
The eight-page letter entitled “Agenda for Health Sector Reform in Pakistan: Providing quality and affordable health services to all” says the government should increased the budget for the health sector every year and there is also a need to allocate tangible economic investment for the reforms in this vital sector.
To make the health scenario better, there is an urgent need to ensure strong committed partnership between federal, provincial and district governments. The proposed investment should be comparable to the recommendations of the Global Commission for Macro-economic on Health, which is at least four per cent of the GDP.
To contribute to the objective of the WHO slogan “Health for All” it recommends measures aiming to reduce risk, besides taking preventive steps to lessen the burden of diseases.
Furthermore, the world health agency also calls for introducing health insurance schemes and establishing community development funds and making available drugs and a good referral system to provide unhindered primary, secondary and tertiary care facilities to people.
The letter says there is a need that the government make arrangements for free treatment facilities to people living below the poverty line. Health card type district-based health insurance schemes with focus on promotion of health delivery, disease prevention and essential care is required. There should be a clear policy framework for social health insurance in the country, it says.
To achieve these objectives, the WHO proposes maintenance of separate health accounts on provincial and federal levels and thorough studies to ascertain the quantum of burden of diseases to be able to put in place relevant and result-oriented strategies.
The health agency has extended its technical and financial cooperation to improve the healthcare scenario in the country. In order to regulate the private health sector, it has suggested legislation to pave the way for public-private partnership.
The WHO letter says licensing and monitoring of private healthcare providers is necessary to protect people from quackery and exploitation. Standards and prerequisites have to be elaborated, published and enforced to ensure that the private sector comply with minimum standard of quality and accountability, it says.
It also stresses on continuation of the ongoing reform process in the country, besides striving for a coherent health policy that can be followed across the country.