KARACHI: Federal Health Minister Syed Mustafa Kamal has claimed that the government’s work in Pakistan’s healthcare sector over the past 14 months has been better than the progress achieved during the previous 30 years.
Speaking at the 23rd Health Asia International Exhibition at Karachi’s Expo Centre, Kamal visited various stalls and met representatives of local and international exhibitors and delegations.
He said healthcare was a sector that would remain essential as long as humanity existed, adding that it should be viewed as a broad public responsibility rather than simply a medical department or business.
Prevention Must Be at the Centre of Healthcare
Kamal said Pakistan needed to focus not only on treating diseases but also on preventing people from becoming ill.
He highlighted birth spacing, vaccination and access to clean drinking water as important components of healthcare. He also noted that doctors were increasingly working in areas such as lifestyle medicine.
According to the minister, healthcare responsibilities extend beyond doctors and hospitals. He said local representatives, including union council-level officials, also had a role to play, particularly in ensuring access to clean water.
Kamal warned that Pakistan’s rapidly growing population would place increasing pressure on the healthcare system. He said the country has a population of around 260 million and approximately 6.7 million babies are born each year.
He compared the annual population increase with the population of New Zealand and said that Pakistan’s population could grow by roughly the equivalent of Australia’s population every five years.
Population Growth Could Increase Pressure on Hospitals
Kamal said that if the population continued to grow at the current pace, Pakistan would become one of the world’s most populous countries by 2030.
He questioned how many hospitals would be required if even a small percentage of the population became ill at the same time.
Referring to the COVID-19 pandemic, the minister said healthcare systems in the United States, Europe, Britain, China, India and Türkiye had all faced severe pressure when large numbers of patients required medical attention simultaneously.
He said Pakistan’s healthcare system was already under pressure even without a major epidemic. According to Kamal, some doctors who should ideally see around 35 patients were sometimes dealing with as many as 350.
Minister Highlights Maternal Health and Local Manufacturing
Kamal described healthcare as both a national security and economic issue. He claimed that around 11,000 mothers die annually in Pakistan and contrasted the figure with maternal deaths during childbirth in other parts of the world.
He also highlighted efforts to reduce the cost of medical equipment through local manufacturing.
The minister said Pakistan currently has many medical machines but most are imported. He claimed that equipment costing around Rs15 million when imported was being offered by local companies for approximately Rs3.5 million to Rs4 million.
He added that Pakistan manufactures medicines domestically but still imports much of the raw material. At the same time, he said local manufacturers had begun producing medical equipment that was previously imported, with some machines costing around Rs25 million being produced locally for approximately Rs1 million.
Kamal also referred to taxation on gym equipment, saying the broader objective should be to encourage people to invest in preventive health rather than allowing lifestyle-related illnesses to increase pressure on hospitals.
The federal health minister ultimately claimed that the government’s 14 months of work in healthcare had delivered more than the sector had achieved over the previous 30 years.