Healthcare is one of the very important pillars of country’s economic and social aspect. Pakistan has approximately over 240 million people of population with constrained resources, escalating health issues, inadequate fundings and spikes in demands in the field of healthcare. These issues undoubtedly create remarkable stress and despair. Although our public sector knows the actual gaps to be filled and seems to work for the betterment but alone it can’t do the needful.
The private sector being the essential collaborator tries to fulfil the requirements as per the needs of patient with the availability of all the present resources and arrange the demands as per need.
However, the private healthcare sector in Pakistan does face a lot of challenges. Many households can’t afford the basic medical expenses and the medical costs of treatments and admissions in the hospitals. For OPD and appointments they need to stand in long queues for welfare and providing them proofs to show them they deserve the welfares.
Most of the rural and urban areas are deprived of high-class healthcare facilities as compared to facilities in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad. Inadequate infrastructure, lack of professional staffs, scarce resources, lack of new technology and tools and lack of training come in the constraints in healthcare. Pakistan is currently facing enormous number of diabetic patients, CVS, Cancers, Obesity and other diseases due to poor food quality and junk-food chains.
Students after getting higher education in medicine and healthcare fields from Pakistan tends to move abroad and serve over there instead of serving back in Pakistan. They feel that the opportunities, salaries and the perks do not match their interests.
Additionally, vaccinations and disease management strategies are not handled by the public sector alone, they just focus on the treatments and cure of the diseases. Many of the people in the rural areas still doubt on the free vaccinations by WHO, they feel it does more harm than the good to their children and offspring causes reluctance. WHO keeps on pushing always that the vaccination gets to the right child at the right time, but the health workers still fear to reach some of the areas.
If we focus on what is working, then the private sector in Pakistan as well as diagnostic centres, pharmaceutical companies, IT companies, healthcare insurance providers and clinics are promoting innovation and technology across Pakistan. Latest robotic and laser surgeries are a part of our system fortunately.
Beyond treating patients, they seem to focus more on healthcare evolution through investments, innovations, specialized services, and partnerships for the betterment of the healthcare system.
Most diagnostic services, private clinics, and higher-end medical facilities are supplied by the private sector, and it also performs sixty percent to seventy percent of the total ambulatory care consultations. It includes everything from small community clinics and disorganized providers to top-tier universities.
With services at practically every level of care, the private sector has grown to be a significant part of Pakistan’s health care system. Since they’re typically more accessible along with providing swifter consultation that filled governmental facilities, private general physicians, neighbourhood clinics, and local dispensaries are frequently the initial point of contact for routine health concerns. Major healthcare providers have a notable presence in diagnostic and specialized medical services, such as laboratories, specialized surgeries, Cancer treatments, and other tertiary-care services. Contributing significantly to the development of Pakistan’s healthcare workforce, private universities and hospitals educate and train the doctors, dentists, nurses, and allied health professionals alongside service delivery.
Public-Private Partnerships are so beneficial in which private companies and nongovernmental organizations collaborate to increase the overall efficiency in healthcare sector. Public-Private partnerships can tackle majority of the issues we are facing.
Moreover, the advancement in technologies and high-tech training and AI integration in the field of medicine can be life-changing with promoting more robotic surgeries, digitalized health records, telemedicine and online consultations. In one of the Sehat-Sahulat Program’s (SSP) initiatives, involves a partnership between private and public hospitals. By utilizing existing private room availability, this approach seeks to reduce financial strain on lowincome and provides cash-less treatment to the eligible patients.
Personally, I think, the private healthcare sector in Pakistan is as important as the public sector to cater to all the challenges we suffer, as it requires focusing on providing the quality to the patients and the qualified doctors. Reliable healthcare, truthfulness, and empathetic care for patients’ well-being are what every patient and their families deserves.
I believe that the pharmaceutical companies and diagnostic centres should initiate allocation of resources and research and development(R&D). Increase adequate facilities, and skilled staff to ensure that people have access to quality medications and proper medical testing tools and technologies at accessible prices.
The writer is a freelance journalist and also provides mentorship to startups. She can be reached at sairabatada.suggests@gmail.com