Health in Pakistan

Pakistan is the fifth most populous country in the world with population approaching 225 million.^[1] It is a developing country struggling in many domains due to which the health system has suffered a lot. As a result of that, Pakistan is ranked 122nd out of 190 countries in the World Health Organization performance report.^[2]

Life expectancy in Pakistan increased from 61.1 years in 1990 to 65.9 in 2019 and is currently 67.94 in 2024 .^[3] Pakistan ranked 124th among 195 countries in terms of Healthcare Access and Quality index, according to a Lancet study.^[3] Although Pakistan has seen improvement in healthcare access and quality since 1990, with its HAQ index increasing from 26.8 in 1990 to 37.6 in 2016.^[4] It still stands at 164th out of 188 countries in terms of United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and chance to achieve them by 2030.^[3]

According to latest statistics, Pakistan spends 2.95% of its GDP on health (2020).^[5] Pakistan per capita income (PPP current international $,) is 6.437.2 in 2022^[6] and the current health expenditure per capita (current US$) is 38.18.^[7] The total adult literacy rate in Pakistan is 58% (2019)^[7] and primary school enrollment is 68%(2018).^[7] The gender inequality in Pakistan was 0.534 in 2021 and ranks the country 135 out of 170 countries in 2021.^[8] The proportion of population which has access to improved drinking water and sanitation is 91% (2015) and 64% (15) respectively.^[9]

The Human Rights Measurement Initiative^[10] finds that Pakistan is fulfilling 69.2% of what it should be fulfilling for the right to health based on its level of income.^[11] When looking at the right to health with respect to children, Pakistan achieves 82.9% of what is expected based on its current income.^[11] In regards to the right to health amongst the adult population, the country achieves 90.4% of what is expected based on the nation's level of income.^[11] Pakistan falls into the "very bad" category when evaluating the right to reproductive health because the nation is fulfilling only 34.4% of what the nation is expected to achieve based on the resources (income) it has available.^[11]

^ Wang, Haidong; Abbas, Kaja M; Abbasifard, Mitra; Abbasi-Kangevari, Mohsen; Abbastabar, Hedayat; Abd-Allah, Foad; Abdelalim, Ahmed; Abolhassani, Hassan; Abreu, Lucas Guimarães; Abrigo, Michael R M; Abushouk, Abdelrahman I; Adabi, Maryam; Adair, Tim; Adebayo, Oladimeji M; Adedeji, Isaac Akinkunmi (October 2020). "Global age-sex-specific fertility, mortality, healthy life expectancy (HALE), and population estimates in 204 countries and territories, 1950–2019: a comprehensive demographic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019". The Lancet. 396 (10258): 1160–1203. doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(20)30977-6. ISSN 0140-6736. PMC 7566045. PMID 33069325.
^ "World Health Organization Report" (PDF). Retrieved 17 March 2023.
^ ^a ^b ^c "The Lancet: Pakistan faces double burden of communicable, non-communicable diseases, and persistent inequities | The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation". www.healthdata.org. Retrieved 19 September 2023.
^ "Pakistan ranks 124 among 195 countries in healthcare". The Frontier Post. 24 May 2018. Archived from the original on 8 July 2019. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
^ Cite error: The named reference :8 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ "GDP per capita, PPP (current international $) - Pakistan | Data". data.worldbank.org. Retrieved 17 March 2023.
^ ^a ^b ^c "World Bank Open Data". World Bank Open Data. Retrieved 19 September 2023.
^ Nations, United. Specific country data (Report). United Nations.
^ "Gapminder Tools". www.gapminder.org. Retrieved 17 March 2023.
^ "Human Rights Measurement Initiative – The first global initiative to track the human rights performance of countries". humanrightsmeasurement.org. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Pakistan - HRMI Rights Tracker". rightstracker.org. Retrieved 26 March 2022.

[1] Wang, Haidong; Abbas, Kaja M; Abbasifard, Mitra; Abbasi-Kangevari, Mohsen; Abbastabar, Hedayat; Abd-Allah, Foad; Abdelalim, Ahmed; Abolhassani, Hassan; Abreu, Lucas Guimarães; Abrigo, Michael R M; Abushouk, Abdelrahman I; Adabi, Maryam; Adair, Tim; Adebayo, Oladimeji M; Adedeji, Isaac Akinkunmi (October 2020). "Global age-sex-specific fertility, mortality, healthy life expectancy (HALE), and population estimates in 204 countries and territories, 1950–2019: a comprehensive demographic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019". The Lancet. 396 (10258): 1160–1203. doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(20)30977-6. ISSN 0140-6736. PMC 7566045. PMID 33069325.

[2] "World Health Organization Report" (PDF). Retrieved 17 March 2023.

[:6-3] "The Lancet: Pakistan faces double burden of communicable, non-communicable diseases, and persistent inequities | The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation". www.healthdata.org. Retrieved 19 September 2023.

[4] "Pakistan ranks 124 among 195 countries in healthcare". The Frontier Post. 24 May 2018. Archived from the original on 8 July 2019. Retrieved 10 September 2019.

[:8-5] Cite error: The named reference :8 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[6] "GDP per capita, PPP (current international $) - Pakistan | Data". data.worldbank.org. Retrieved 17 March 2023.

[World_Bank_Open_Data-7] "World Bank Open Data". World Bank Open Data. Retrieved 19 September 2023.

[8] Nations, United. Specific country data (Report). United Nations.

[auto-9] "Gapminder Tools". www.gapminder.org. Retrieved 17 March 2023.

[10] "Human Rights Measurement Initiative – The first global initiative to track the human rights performance of countries". humanrightsmeasurement.org. Retrieved 26 March 2022.

[auto2-11] "Pakistan - HRMI Rights Tracker". rightstracker.org. Retrieved 26 March 2022.

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