Sir: Public health is one of the most neglected areas in Pakistan, at all levels. Our federal and provincial health ministries have failed so far to modernise the public health system, and one only needs to visit a public hospital or dispensary in any city of Pakistan to realise the kind of terrible shape they are in. The poor people of Pakistan cannot afford expensive private healthcare, public hospitals are their only hope. And while many continue to campaign for the improvement of public healthcare, they ask for more money, which ignores the real problem.It is not money that is the problem, but the lack of capacity of our public health institutions to effectively deploy that money and achieve results based on sound policy. A lot of the money allocated to public health remains unspent. This problem is not restricted to Pakistan, but is prevalent throughout the developing world. Therefore, the emphasis should not just be on greater expenditure on healthcare, which is of course necessary, but also on the development of better policy and greater capacity to deploy that money. One hopes that the public health officials and the relevant ministries realise this problem and deal with in on a priority basis.SHAUKAT ALIKarachi