Government hospitals across the country carry budgets worth trillions of rupees, yet provincial governments’ performance on public health remains alarming.
International standards require at least 3 to 5 hospital beds per 1,000 people, but Pakistan’s current rate stands at just 0.63 beds per 1,000 people. The country needs to expand its existing hospitals and bed count at least five-fold.
Around 1,279 major public hospitals are operational across Pakistan. Punjab’s 388 government hospitals have 60,191 beds, roughly one bed for every 1,800 people.
Sindh has 39,564 beds across 473 hospitals, or one bed for every 1,400 people. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has 22,154 beds in 277 hospitals, around one bed for every 1,600 people.
Balochistan has 7,747 beds in 132 government hospitals, roughly one bed for every 1,700 people. Islamabad has 2,571 beds in 9 hospitals, with around one bed available for every 900 people.
On budgets, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provided Rs334 billion for health, with Rs50.4 billion allocated separately for “Sehat Card Plus.” Punjab’s health budget stood at approximately Rs500.6 billion, while Sindh allocated around Rs500.62 billion for health.
Balochistan’s health budget is Rs96 billion, while the federal government allocated Rs53.3 billion for nationwide and federal areas.
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