Daily Times

A state that cannot provide the prime essence of life – education, health, and food – to its citizens, can readily be called a fiasco. The political body never forgets to disappoint the people, in the state of a fiasco, it’s like riding a bike – an activity one can never wholly unlearn.

With the clouds of the existential health crisis on the horizon, Pakistan can nearly breathe let alone flourish. The past year has been the year of health catastrophe for Pakistan as the upheaval once thought to be long gone flared up – poliovirus. The total polio cases reported in 2017 and 2018 were 8 and 12 respectively, and eventually, there was a lot more than a glimpse of Pakistan being successful in its three-decade fight with polio but alas, the wind changed and the cases hike up to 144 in 2019. Back to square one. At the very beginning of February 2020, four other cases were reported: one boy was paralyzed because of the poliovirus, reported National Institute of Health (NIH). And woefully, Pakistan is among the three countries, Afghanistan and Nigeria being the other two, that has failed to eradicate this decade-old virus. One can do nothing but to question the seriousness and competence of the government’s policies. The administrators blame the lack of quality of vaccinations and the parents hold the administration responsible. Who, exactly, to blame?

The other health disaster was witnessed in Sindh – the rabies virus. In September 2019, a video went viral on social media of a mother, crying while holding his son, in a hospital where the anti-rabies vaccines were not available because they were out of it as we import it from our neighbor, India. Hence, the boy died eventually. Reportedly, there were a handful of other death cases from Sindh. Scarcity of vaccinations and lack of administration, again. Who to blame?
Another such case is of a nine-month-old Nashwa who fell prey to the malfeasance of our health system in April 2019. The inadequacy of a hospital in Karachi – Dar ul Sehat – forced her parents to bury her in such an innocent age. Sadly, Nashwa is not the only child who fell prey to this failed health system, one day or another we witness such cases. Pakistan shortfalls in efficacious machinery and medicines in hospitals – it heavily relies on other countries to import it in –, which made its infant mortality rate higher than India, Bangladesh, and even Sri Lanka – 66 per 1000 births. Who to blame?

The recent performance report by the World Health Organization (WHO) states that Pakistan ranks 122 in the global world in terms of the health system, much below position than under-developed countries like Libya and Iraq.

Furthermore, according to a Lancet study, Pakistan stands at 154th out of 190 countries concerning the quality and accessibility of healthcare. It is clear, assuredly, from the facts that Pakistan continuously lags in servicing its citizens with the basic life necessity.

It is with, beyond any doubt, the absolute certainty that the gist of human life lies in its health which, by the facts, is the most compromised thing in Pakistan. And with the coronavirus exposing itself to the world, Pakistan is unambiguously not ready for another contingency. Where the vaccines of decades-old viruses are at dearth, on what policies the state will counter this deadliest epidemic? Clearly, the isolation of Wuhan students is not a policy or is it, for the wardens of the state? You can always expect a surprise where the freedom of discretion is a novel idea.

The impotence to meet global standards of medicines and machinery and the dependency on other countries to import the heart of life ate us alive in the first place. However, we need to develop several health centers and an effective health council that will cope with the contemporary health crisis of any age, therefore, by doing so we would not have to import detection kits from Japan for coronavirus and vaccines from India and China and take measures on developing our own research centers to make vaccines and required medicines – like Cuba did and that made it one of the world’s best health systems. Pakistan just about comprises almost every disease, unfortunately, and that could help our doctors and students to research the viruses or disorders of any kind; and make cures for them. If a poor country like Cuba could do it, why can’t Pakistan? If India could wipe out polio, why can’t Pakistan? Every year, plenty of Pakistanis doctors leave their country to find better opportunities somewhere abroad. The brain drain of doctors in Pakistan, typically, happens because of less number of research centers and lack of funding, unsafe career, scarcity of resources and stressful work environment, says Journal of the Pakistan Medical Association (JPMA).

Moreover, according to a survey conducted by Gallup Pakistan, the percentage of Pakistan’s adult community wants to go to a more resourceful and safer country is, two-third of the total population. If only we could utilize our resources and assets. However, there is still a lot one can do to avoid further distress and that depends on the will of our state.

As far as the government is concerned, it is going down in flames, more or less. The WHO reported that only 1.5% of Pakistan’s GDP is assigned for public health, which mirrors the frivolousness and petty attitude of the government. From education to health, the funds have decreased eventually; the priorities have changed.

The hope people of Pakistan counted on is not so different from its predecessors’. Who, now, they count on? They are puzzled between a rock and a hard place. Isn’t everything a fiasco in-between?

The writer can be reached at @ArsimTariq