Govt likely to slash health spending in next fiscal

Officials say govt pledges about Rs27b against the demand of Rs54b

ISLAMABAD: Instead of increasing its health care spending, the government has slashed the health funding for the upcoming fiscal year – a decision that may hit hard important healthcare programmes.

The Ministry of National Health Services Regulations and Coordination had demanded about Rs54 billion development budget for the fiscal year 2017-18 but the Finance Ministry has pledged about Rs.27 billion so far. The allocation is even less than the previous year’s development funding of Rs.30 billion.

Initially, the Finance Ministry had announced allocating Rs25 billion for the upcoming fiscal year but on the insistence of the health ministry it enhanced the amount from Rs25 billion to Rs27 billion.

As much as Rs1,876 million has also been pledged for recurring budget; so in total around Rs28 billion have been earmarked for the ministry so far.



Officials say they need at least Rs34 billion to run the ongoing projects and with the current pledges important mother and child healthcare programmes will suffer.

The ministry had demanded Rs16 billion for the Family Planning and Primary Healthcare Programme but Rs11 billion have been pledged. This shortfall may delay or halt salaries of the lady health workers as federal government is funding the programme, said one of the health officials.

The government has earmarked Rs3billion for the Prime Minister’s Health Insurance Programme against the demand of Rs15 billion but officials are hopeful that the funding may be increased as it is the government’s own programme and they will continue to support it. The Expanded Programme on Immunisation is also facing a shortfall of Rs5 billion.

But the health ministry has been pursuing its case rigorously with the finance officials arguing that the cuts may affect very important programmes as Pakistan is struggling to increase vaccination rates and reduce mother and child mortality incidence.



“We are hopeful that in the upcoming meeting of Annual Plan Coordination Committee (APCC) expected to be held on May 17 the planning and finance officials will reconsider their decision and enhance the funding,” a health ministry official said.

According to health activist and the SUN Civil Society Alliance Pakistan official Dr Irshad Danish, Pakistan has failed to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) due to lack of spending in health.

“We have a high maternal and child mortality rates but we are spending less than 1% on health. If we spend on health we will be able to achieve all sustainable development goals.

He said Pakistan has one of the best health infrastructures but it is not investing in health workforce.

“Pakistan’s health strategy is still in draft shape since 2009. The country should spend at least 6% [of its budget] to achieve health related goals and the provinces should also invest similarly,” Danish said.