KARACHI: Federal Health Minister Mustafa Kamal said Pakistan’s healthcare system needs urgent reforms, calling it a “sick-care system” that makes people patients instead of preventing illness.
Speaking to the business community in Karachi, he said doctors are forced to see 300 patients daily, far beyond their capacity of 35–40. He added that 68% of diseases in the country are caused by unsafe water, as people from Gilgit to Karachi are drinking sewage-contaminated water.
The minister said Pakistan’s population is the biggest challenge, with more people added every year than the total population of New Zealand. Around 11,000 mothers die annually during pregnancy.
He also said religious scholars are reluctant to talk about family planning. Within three months, all medical colleges will be digitized. He stressed the need to promote local pharmaceutical production, noting that Afghanistan and other countries are ready to buy medicines from Pakistan.
