Abstract
Health care access to all in a given community is
becoming a growing challenge for healthcare
providers. Even a much greater challenge is provision
of health care services with equity and fairness.1
Recent demographic changes in population with
movement of people from rural to urban areas2
,
coupled with growing elderly population and their
increased health care needs3
, are burdening health
care services on one end and technological advances
offering expensive remedies for complex medical
problems is making health care expensive in
background of limited available resources.4
This situation is creating issues of access to
healthcare in developing countries like Pakistan that
have limited resources. Equity in healthcare requires
provision of healthcare to all sections regardless of
their ability to pay. Access and equity in delivery of
healthcare services are issues and challenges facing
countries like Pakistan.1
For Pakistan health related indicators are lagging far
behind in comparison to other developing countries in
the region;5 reasons being dysfunctional health care
delivery system with lack of infrastructure, human and
material resources. Most important is the lack of coordination between primary, secondary and tertiary level
of healthcare leading to access and equity issue with
poor health related outcome.
Making healthcare delivery system more functional
would require experienced primary care physician so
that 90% of healthcare related problems can be
identified and addressed outside hospital at primary
care level. Left over 10% of patients making their way
to the hospitals are of complicated enough nature to
be dealt with effectively by secondary and tertiary
level physicians. It will prevent primary care level
issues going to secondary and tertiary level
physicians. This strategy will lead to huge cost saving
that will provide funds to promote access and equity to
healthcare in the country by strengthening primary
care services.
Waris Qidwai. (2015) Promoting Access and Equity in Healthcare: Issues, Challenges and Way Forward in Pakistan, Journal of Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences, Volume-14, Issue-2.
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