Priority area: Health
Duration: 1980s to today The health situation in Pakistan is one of the worst in Asia. A high maternal and child mortality rate goes hand in hand with insufficient health care for the population. One of the main causes of the inadequate health care situation is a shortage of personnel in public health services. The majority of the population does not have access to health insurance. Infectious diseases such as tuberculosis are very prevalent and ‘lifestyle diseases’ such as high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease and diabetes are also increasing dramatically in all population groups. Germany has been supporting Pakistan since the 1980s in building capacities in the health system in order to be able to deliver efficient and fair health care services to the population. |
|---|
Results achieved so far – examples:
- Family planning programmes received some EUR 42 million as part of financial cooperation in the 1990s – to great success.
- The national Health Services Academy (HSA), which was established with German support, has gained a reputation as a centre of excellence for postgraduate and short courses. So far 188 graduates have completed their master's degree at the HSA. The share of graduates taking up management posts after graduation rose from 60% to 80%. The share of graduates involved in policy-making after completing their master's degree rose from 7% to 38%. Today, more than 200 graduates hold key positions in Pakistan.
- Tuberculosis monitoring in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and FATA has considerably improved as a result of Pakistan-German financial and technical cooperation projects. Training of technical personnel, the establishment of new diagnosis centres and the delivery of medications have improved the diagnosis and treatment of those suffering from tuberculosis. The tuberculosis detection rate in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, for instance, rose from 28% (2003) to 92% (2009) and in FATA from 32% (2007) to 74% (2009).
- The National Blood Transfusion Strategy, which was developed with German support, has improved conditions for treating the population with safe blood products.
- The health authority in Azad Jammu and Kashmir received advice in the development of a personnel management system. Health managers in three districts now have access to detailed employee profiles and can thus efficiently place personnel. There are plans to extend this project across the whole of the federal state.
- Germany's debt swap programmes mean the Pakistani Government is now in a position to finance the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, as well as the expansion and construction of new hospitals in FATA.
