ealth is a fundamental right of every human being recognised in the WHO Constitution, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and many other international and regional human rights treaties. All WHO member states have ratified at least one treaty that recognises the right to the highest achievable standard of physical and mental health.

The WHO Council on the Economics of Health for All has found that at least 140 countries recognise health as a human right in their constitution. Yet the countries are not passing and putting into practice laws to ensure that their populations are entitled to access health services. This reinforces the fact that at least 4.5 billion people, more than half of the world’s population, were not fully covered by essential health services in 2021.

Every year, more than 5.2 million children under the age of five die from preventable causes; more than 800 women and adolescent girls die every day due to complications during pregnancy and childbirth.

More than one million people died of Covid-19. The world has not seen a health crisis like it. It impacted communities everywhere impacting all aspects of health services and health attainments.

World Health Day, observed annually on April 7, is a global initiative aimed at raising awareness about health issues and advocating for actions to improve health outcomes worldwide. The theme for World Health Day 2024 was My Health, My Right. This was chosen to support everyone’s right to have access to quality health services, safe drinking water, good nutrition and freedom from discrimination.

Millions of people around the world do not have their health needs met because of inequality, discrimination and human rights violations.

UN Sustainable Development Goal 3, regarding good health and well-being, emphasises the importance of health as the foundation for prosperous and sustainable societies to achieve by 2030. Collective actions of individuals, organisations and governments can significantly influence global health policies and practices, driving progress towards universal health coverage to support SDGs.

30 per cent of the world’s population lacks access to basic health treatments. Almost 200 million people are facing catastrophic or depriving healthcare costs. There are considerable disparities impacting those in the most disadvantaged circumstances. Over 6.6 million children worldwide pass away as a result of inadequate healthcare systems. The right to health is increasingly under threat around the world for millions of people. Diseases and disasters appear large as causes of death and disability. Conflicts, migration and calamities are upsetting lives, causing death, pain, hunger and psychological suffering.

Millions of people around the world do not have their health needs met because of inequalities, discrimination and human rights violations.

Under the constitution, health is primarily the responsibility of the provincial governments, except in the federally administered areas. Health care delivery has traditionally been jointly administered by the federal and provincial governments. District administrations are mainly responsible for implementation. For the last five decades Pakistan has been improving slowly in the health sector, as is evident by its health indicators.

The infant mortality rate in 2024 is 54.657 deaths per 1,000 live births. Pakistan has not yet met the WHO’s target of a 95 per cent vaccination rate. Only 66 per cent of children aged 12–23 months are reported to have received all the basic EPI vaccines, according to a national demographic health survey from April 2023. 50 per cent of the population does lacks access to primary healthcare services. 42 per cent does not have health insurance. Pakistan is among the 10 countries with the lowest access to safe water near to home. Poverty is both a consequence and a cause of ill health.

In Pakistan, healthcare delivery suffers from issues like high population growth, uneven distribution of health professionals, deficient workforce, insufficient funding, and limited access to quality healthcare services. The budget allocated for healthcare facilities is only 3.4 per cent of the GDP. The World Health Organisation has recommended that Pakistan’s Ministry of Health increase healthcare expenditures to 5 per cent of its GDP.

National Health Vision 2025 has been articulated on the health system functions and is associated with the health-related Sustainable Development Goals. The vision is to improve the health of all Pakistanis, particularly women and children, through universal access to quality essential health services and ensuring financial protection, with a focus on vulnerable groups, and delivered through strong and responsive health systems.

The health indicators reveal that the planning and policy formation of the health sector in Pakistan are capable at the preparation level but not at the execution level. Political unrest and the lack of sustained democratic governments are among the major causes of this failure.

With the emergence of Covid-19, the entire health system faced various problems owing to the limitations of the healthcare structure, resistance from various social and political segments and economic instability. This put an additional dent in the health infrastructure mechanism.

In his World Health Day message, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the World Health Organisation director general, stated, “I envision a world in which everyone can live healthy, productive lives, regardless of who they are or where they live. I believe the global commitment to Sustainable Development Goals offers a unique opportunity to address the social, economic and political determinants of healthcare services and improve the health and well-being of people everywhere, as their basic right.”

The writer is a playwright and a freelance journalist. He can be reached at pashajaved1@gmail.com and his blogging site: soulandland.co