Healthcare in Pakistan
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Health care in Pakistan is provided by both public and private systems. Services such as free screening examinations for particular diseases, prenatal care, and infectious disease control, are provided by provincial governments. People in Pakistan have grown healthier over the past three decades: the rates of immunization of most groups of children have more than doubled over the past decade, and knowledge of family planning has increased remarkably and is almost universal.
Nevertheless, Pakistan is committed to the goal of making its population healthier, as evidenced by the continuing strong support for the Social Action Program (SAP) and by the new vision for health, nutrition, and population outlined in the government's National Health Policy Guidelines up to 2010. An example of a promising recent initiative is the lady health worker (LHW) community-based program, which is bringing health information, some basic health care, and family planning services to women's doorsteps. Presently, 43,000 women are serving as LHWs in their home villages.
Infectious disease
Communicable diseases such as diarrheal diseases, respiratory infections, tuberculosis, and immunizable childhood disease still account for the majority of sicknesses and deaths in Pakistan.
Dengue fever
An outbreak of dengue fever occurred in October 2006 in Pakistan.
Malaria
Cancer
HIV/AIDS
HIV is not a dominant epidemic in the adult population of Pakistan. Nevertheless, coupled with an extremely low awareness of HIV/AIDS in Pakistan, as well as a growing number of cases, the AIDS epidemic is poised to take a hold in Pakistan. The presence of additional risk factors, such as unscreened blood, and low condom use rates, makes the situation fertile for AIDS to become a major public health issue. The National AIDS Programme's latest figures show that around 3,000 HIV cases have so far been reported since 1986, but UN and government estimates put the number of HIV/AIDS cases between 70,000 and 80,000 with the vast majority going unreported due to social taboos about sex, and victims' fears of discrimination.
Family planning
Immunization
Women's health
Maternal care
Maternal health problems are also widespread, complicated in part by frequent births. In fact, Pakistan lags far behind most developing countries in women's health and gender equality: of every 38 women who give birth, one dies. The infant mortality rate (101 per 1,000) and the mortality rate for children under age five (140 per 1,000 births) exceed the averages for low-income countries by 60 and 36 percent, respectively. Although use of contraceptives has increased, fertility remains high, at 5.3 births per woman, and population growth rates are much higher than elsewhere in South Asia. The underlying problems that affect health—poverty, illiteracy, women's low status, inadequate water supplies and sanitation—persist.