Of the innumerable problems facing Pakistan, the provision of healthcare is probably of the most serious one. The right to healthcare is the fundamental human right of every person, but unfortunately, only the rich have access to quality healthcare facilities to Pakistan. The state has handed over the health sector to private companies and abdicated its responsibility in providing basic health facilities to its citizens.
Healthcare has become highly expensive for the common man in Pakistan. The government’s facilities accessed by the poor are underfunded and lack facilities. As a result, the private sector exploited the situation and has become a multi-billion industry. A doctor charges Rs500 to Rs7000 per visit and has monthly income of Rs2-3 million leaving aside the cost of operations and treatment. A laboratory test costs up to Rs50,000 while the cost of private room is Rs8,000-15,000 per day, even more than a five-star hotel. An intensive care unit (ICU) bed can be as high as Rs100,000 per day. Private hospitals, doctors, laboratories and pharmaceutical have all cashed in at the expense of the hapless population.
The government is providing medical cards which are basically derived from our taxes on the common man who are buying expensive products. The government is merely paying the insurance premiums to companies. At the end of the day, there is no such things as a free meal. It is eventually the hospitals, doctors, big pharma companies and insurance firms that are the big winners and have minted a fortune providing expensive healthcare facilities.
Instead of providing these health cards for political interests, the government needs to regulate the healthcare sector. It must ensure that the charges of doctors, hospitals and laboratories are not raised exponentially so that they are beyond reach.
There are numerous healthcare facilities that have sprung up charging whatever they like without any standards being met. Take for instance, the coronavirus detection tests which are being conducted across the country at an inflated cost Rs6000-8000. These private clinics and laboratories have now mushroomed across the country.
It would be beneficial if the government increases the number of hospitals, medical companies or laboratories to control the predatory medical sector. There are thousands of tests being conducted every day, often unnecessarily, to increase their rates. It is not uncommon to see doctors endorsing certain medicines and products just to gain commissions from pharma companies, and ignoring the moral and ethical standards of the noble processions.
As a result, we have a highly distorted and shambolic health sector as the government has never developed any comprehensive health system where minor and chronic health issues are resolved. The pharma sector has the highest growth on the Pakistan Stock Exchange but still the poor are dying just because they cannot afford basic health facilities.
The government needs to regulate the medical sector which includes registration of hospitals, tax accountability, fees structures, quality standards and patient complaint system. Stop-gap measures such as ‘Sehat cards’ are never the solution to our healthcare needs. Unless the government cannot reform our costly, unregulated and predatory healthcare system, the poor will not gain access to affordable and quality healthcare.
