Universal Health Coverage in Pakistan: A call for Health System Reforms

Abstract

The sustainable development goal 3.8, adopted in 2015 by the United Nations advocated the need for ‘Universal Health Coverage’ (UHC), a roadmap promising that all people, particularly those in need, have access to essential health services when and where they need, without any financial hardship. UHC is not a new lexicon, it was outlined in the founding constitution of the World Health Organization (WHO) that has stipulated health as a fundamental and universal right of every human being without distinction of race, religion and political belief, economic and social condition. WHO defines ‘maximum’ population coverage, health service coverage, and financial protection, as three dimensions of UHC. The first dimension is relatively simpler to understand: what proportion of the people in the catchment of a health facility are covered for health services, and how many are left out. The second dimension delineates the range of essential health services made available to the people e.g. immunization, family planning, antenatal care, delivery by skilled birth attendant, treatment of common ailments, and services for HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria etc. Third dimension is about the expenditure incurred while seeking the healthcare, especially the out of pocket expenditure or the cost sharing by the patient, which is supposed