A five-day national discourse on the Development and Implementation of Universal Health Coverage (UHC) Benefit Package of Pakistan will start today on 25 November at the Marriot Hotel, Islamabad. Dr. Zafar Mirza, Special Advisor to Prime Minister / Minister of State will chair the inauguration session, which will be attended by Provincial/ Federating Area Health Secretaries and Director General Health Services, representatives from the Disease Control Priorities 3 (DCP3) secretariat, Bill & Malinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), London School for Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), Radboud University, World Health Organization (WHO), World Bank (WB), UK’s Department for International Development (DFID), United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF), Aga Khan University (AKU), Health Services Academy (HSA) and other stakeholders.
Pakistan is committed to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (SDGs) and the Universal Health Coverage. Pakistan is making progress on health outcomes but progress is very slow with serious equity issues. Only eighty-six million Pakistani were having access to essential health services in 2017 – a major reason for poor health outcomes in Pakistan.
To address the challenge, the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination (NHSR&C) is expanding the ‘Sehat Inssaf’ Programme to all districts in Pakistan to protect 83 million poorest people from catastrophic health expenditure but also to ensure provision of essential package of health services to all people both through public and private health sector.
The ministry in collaboration with the provincial/ area departments of health and other stakeholders is finalizing the UHC benefit package of Pakistan and to start its implementation in 2020. The DCP3 secretariat (LSHTM and Radboud University), WHO and other partners are providing technical support to develop the feasible package of health services based on scientific evidence and considering an integrated approach. This package will later on be adopted by provincial departments of health considering their own specific needs and context.
Ministry of NHSR&C is playing its role of effective coordination with the international community and provincial departments of health to facilitate the introduction of global best practices in the health sector of Pakistan, in order to achieve UHC and health related SDGs and thus lowering of poverty through improved health outcomes".
The Ministry of National Health Services, secretary Dr Allah Bakhsh Malik said that health ministry in partnership with the Provincial/area Departments of Health, health academic institutes, private sector, civil society organizations and development partners has developed an Essential Package of Health Services / UHC Benefit Package and will have deliberations to finalize the document, while considering the evidence generated.
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