Pakistan Advances Primary Health Care for UHC
Islamabad: The Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations & Coordination (MoNHSR&C), in collaboration with Integrity and with support from the British High Commission Islamabad, convened a national learning event titled “Rethinking Primary Health Care for Universal Health Coverage Implementation.” The event brought together federal and provincial health leadership, development partners, academia, and civil society to discuss practical reforms aimed at strengthening Primary Health Care (PHC) as the foundation for achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC) in Pakistan.
Discussions drew on Integrity’s research study, “Rethinking Primary Health Care in Pakistan,” which explores how PHC can better respond to rising non-communicable diseases, rapid population growth, climate-related risks, and health security challenges. The study proposes a practical reform framework to strengthen public PHC and accelerate Pakistan’s progress toward UHC.
Federal Minister MoNHSR&C, Syed Mustafa Kamal, emphasized that advancing PHC is a national priority to ensure access to quality essential health services without financial hardship. He acknowledged the support of the British High Commission, the FCDO’s Evidence for Health Programme, the World Bank’s National Health Support Program, and Integrity for facilitating the learning platform and sharing critical research.
Sam Waldock, Development Director at the British High Commission Islamabad, highlighted that strong PHC improves access, quality, and public confidence in health services. He welcomed efforts to implement the Essential Package of Health Services (EPHS) and promote cross-provincial learning for effective scale-up, reaffirming the UK’s long-term commitment to supporting Pakistan’s health system.
Minister of State MoNHSR&C, Dr. Malik Mukhtar Ahmad Bharath, stressed the importance of integrating maternal and child health, family planning, nutrition, communicable and non-communicable diseases, and health security into a unified PHC platform to reduce fragmentation and improve financial protection for citizens.
Anthony Ellis, CEO of Integrity, noted the event’s focus on translating evidence into actionable, context-specific reforms that enhance sustainability, accountability, and learning across programs and provinces. Dr. Jahanzaib Sohail, Senior Health Economist at the World Bank, commended the initiative for fostering stakeholder collaboration and sharing implementation experiences under E4H, NHSP, and federal-provincial reforms.
Participants agreed on the need to transition from fragmented, vertical program delivery to integrated, digitally enabled, quality-assured PHC systems that are equitable, resilient, and responsive to Pakistan’s evolving demographic and epidemiological realities.
The event concluded with a collective commitment to accelerate implementation of evidence-informed PHC reforms, reaffirming that strengthening Primary Health Care is central to Pakistan’s progress toward Universal Health Coverage, improved population health outcomes, and long-term social and economic resilience.
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