Pakistan has made remarkable progress in the field of maternal and child health, yet Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s admission on World Health Day rings painfully true: we still have a long way to go. While expanded immunization campaigns and rising institutional deliveries signal hope, statistics remain grim: 186 mothers die for every 100,000 live births, and 61 children under five perish for every 1,000 born alive.
Many would argue that our healthcare journey is one of contradictions. Since the 1990s, initiatives like the Lady Health Workers programme and the Benazir Income Support Programme’s health card have laid critical groundwork yet fragmentation between federal and provincial authorities persists. Rural areas, for instance, endure maternal mortality rates two to three times higher than urban centres, a disparity fueled by unequal access to skilled birth attendants and emergency obstetric care. Meanwhile, malnutrition and poverty trap generations in a devastating cycle: undernourished mothers give birth to vulnerable infants, who face heightened risks of illness and stunted development. Polio remains another challenge, with Pakistan being one of only two countries where the disease is endemic.
Compounding these issues is chronic underinvestment. Pakistan spends a meagre $40 annually per capita on health-far below regional peers-while relying on a privatized urban healthcare system that often plunges families into crippling debt. Add to this the looming spectre of climate change, with floods, heatwaves, and disease outbreaks straining an already fragile system, and the urgency becomes clear.
Acknowledging the problem is a necessary first step, but words alone will not save lives. Pakistan needs a bold, unified health vision if its authorities wish to meet its Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. The federal and provincial governments must coalesce around a binding agreement that clearly delineates roles, funding commitments, and performance benchmarks. Public health spending must rise to at least 3% of GDP, a benchmark set by South Asian neighbours. No ifs and no buts. Third, we must harness public?private partnerships to extend outreach into underserved areas.
Most importantly, transparency must underpin every step. The Prime Minister should task his team with presenting a fully costed action plan to parliament within three months. Committing to transparency, provincial governments should also publish quarterly data on key indicators–skilled birth attendance, postnatal visits, and immunization coverage–with civil society and media holding them to account.
This narrow window of opportunity will not remain open forever. Don’t we all deserve a chance at life? *