183438 Politics, governance and the health system in Pakistan

Wednesday, October 29, 2008: 12:50 PM

Gregory Pappas, MD PhD , Department of Community Health Sciences, Aha Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan
Abdul Ghaffar, MBBS, MHA, PhD , Health Policy and Systems, Global Forum for Health Research, Geneva, Switzerland
Tayyeb Masud , MoH Pakistan, Islamabad, Pakistan
Sameen Siddiqi , WHO EMRO, Cairo, Egypt
Adnan Hyder , Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD
David M. Bishai, MD MPH PhD , Bloomberg School of Public Health, Department of Population and Family Health Sciences, Baltimore, MD
Amina Katrina , Heartfile, Islamabad, Pakistan
M. Abdur Rab , WHO Sudan, Khartoom, Sudan
     
The volatile political history of Pakistan has led to problems with governance overall and specifically of the health sector, and is related to the lack of improvements in health indicators in the country. The literature on governance defines six domains of concern: voice and accountability; political stability and absence of violence; government effectiveness; regulatory quality; rule of law; and control of corruption. Unfortunately Pakistan is weak in all of the domains. Better governance should lead to improved health outcomes with the same levels of funding.. A number of recommendations to improve overall governance in the health sector are offered to initiate a global discourse. The role of the donor community can not be understood as a simple guest in client countries and the role played in governance can not be avoided.

Learning Objectives:
Describe examples of problems with governance in health sector in Pakistan.

Keywords: Health Service, War

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I did the primary research on this paper
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

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