Pakistan Healthcare and Budget PAKISTAN is a known low-spender on health. To put things into perspective, Pakistan spent $45 per person on health, while Iran spent $484 and Qatar spent $1,716 per capita in 2017-18. However, what minimum amount governments should spend to provide essential healthcare is debatable. One credible and frequently quoted estimate comes […]
Healthcare and Budget 2021-22 Read More »
The writer is a former SAPM on health and currently serving as a WHO adviser on Universal Health Coverage. SOME may find the title of this article provocative and others may find it amusing. But this is a very serious issue: Pakistan needs contraception and contraceptives are not available. In a special report in Dawn on Aug 14, 2021,
Pakistan Needs Contraception Read More »
THERE is a very high return on investment in healthcare. The social return on investment calculus includes not only financial returns but also aspects such as empowerment, social cohesion and political participation, which are assessed in different quantitative and qualitative ways. It looks at returns generated not only for the investor but also society as
Unpacking Social Health Insurance Read More »
LIKE every crisis, the Covid-19 pandemic has also brought some opportunities, two in particular. First, it has spurred innovation. In relatively no time, experimental vaccines started queuing up. The mRNA-based vaccine was developed which is a watershed innovation. This is going to profoundly change the future of prevention and therapeutics. Regulatory pathways for emergency use
Optimising Covid-19 TRIPS Waiver Read More »
LAWRENCE Summers has some credentials to reckon with: chief economist of the World Bank (1991-1993); US treasury secretary (1999-2001); president of Harvard University (2001-2006); director of the National Economic Council for president Obama (2009-2010). He is primarily a macroeconomist who has a deep interest in and has made significant contributions to public finance, international economics,
Health and Macroeconomic Policies Read More »
AT 9:30am, on Aug 27, 2021, a fire erupted in the BM Luggage (bag) Industry (BLI) in Korangi, Karachi. Eighteen workers were burnt to death, with many injured. This is not the first such tragedy in Pakistan and, if things do not change, it will not be the last. This incident evokes heart-wrenching memories from nine
