New Delhi, Nov 15 (IANS) An ever-shifting governance framework has suspended Pakistan’s healthcare sector in a perpetual instability, according to a media report.

The country has in the last decade seen an alarming rate of ministerial turnover in the health sector, which has not only disabled the implementation of meaningful policy but also the delivery of consistent services, Islam Khabar reported.

It noted that more than “resource shortages, a lack of medical expertise, or population pressures”, the “absence of administrative continuity” has led to the crumbling of the healthcare sector.

As a result, public health programmes have been discontinued and funding allocations have been inconsistent.

“The country boasts a considerable pool of skilled doctors, nurses, and allied health professionals. Yet their ability to deliver quality care is continuously undermined by an ever-shifting governance framework,” the report said.

“Hospitals are overburdened, rural clinics remain chronically under-equipped, and public health initiatives falter before they can gain traction. These failures are not the result of incompetence at the individual level but of structural dysfunction at the top,” it added.

The report cited that patients are bearing the brunt of the inefficiency — with long queues, delays in treatment, and inconsistent quality of care.

“Children, pregnant women, and the chronically ill are disproportionately affected,” the report said.

It added that immunisation campaigns are faltering; rural birthing centres remain understaffed or under-resourced, contributing to preventable maternal and infant deaths.

The fragmented leadership and inconsistent policy enforcement have been exacerbating health emergencies, such as outbreaks of dengue, measles, or polio. It will also increase the challenges posed by climate change and widen rural health disparities.

The absence of governance will continue to overburden hospitals and under-equipped rural health centres, said the report. Millions of patients in the country have been denied the simple dignity of reliable care in the last decade.

“The human cost of this instability is immediate, tangible, and unforgiving — and it grows with every ministerial shuffle,” the report said.

–IANS

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