No universal health coverage without better service delivery

Caretaker health minister says focus must shift towards the health benefits package

ISLAMABAD: Universal health coverage (UHC) cannot be provided to the people unless the service delivery infrastructure is improved and people can access high-quality health services which fulfil their needs and preferences.

The strategy calls for reforms to reorient health services, shifting away from fragmented supply-oriented models, towards health services that put people and communities at their centre, and surrounds them with responsive services that are coordinated.

This was stated by the Interim Federal Health Minister Yusuf Shaikh on Wednesday while addressing a meeting on developing national universal health coverage priority benefits package in the capital.



He said that Pakistan aims to successfully implement an agenda where every individual’s right to physical wellbeing, such as overall health, is guaranteed in order to ensure the economic and social development of the people.

The health minister further said that Pakistan was committed to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals agenda and provide UHC.

The minister said that the fragmented nature of today’s health system means that they are increasingly unable to respond to the demands placed upon them.

The focus on hospital-based, disease-based and self-contained curative care models undermine the ability of the health system to provide universal, equitable, high quality and financially sustainable care.

The minister said in the case of Pakistan, ‘Financial Health Protection Initiatives’ and ‘Family Practice Approach’ are strategic choices for the federal and provincial governments to meet.

He added that the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development has given impetus to UHC as an overarching target to guide health systems transformations to achieve the health-specific and health-related Sustainable Development Goals targets.

SDG 3.8, he pointed out, calls for “achieving UHC, including financial risk protection, access to quality essential health care services, and access to safe, effective, quality, and affordable essential medicines and vaccines for all”.

Hence, the need for all countries to identify their ‘Health Benefits Package’ and ensure its accessibility for all.



Considering the socio-economic diversity, the various stages of demographic and epidemiological transitions, and the multiple acute and chronic emergencies characterising countries of our region, he said that we need to look beyond one-size-fits-all regional approach to the health benefits package.

“The deliberations shall, I feel confident, provide policymakers with up-to-date knowledge in benefit packages design,” he said.

The most critical part of the work needed by countries is on priority setting, financial risk protection, and providing a publicly financed package of essential health services, he said, adding this is exactly the focus of the discussion in this meeting. 

Published in The Express Tribune, August 9^th, 2018.