Pakistan | Overview
Assessment of Pakistan's Surgical System by tracking The Lancet Indicators for Global Surgery
Challenge
Pakistan sees 183 deaths per 100,000 citizens from surgical diseases, compared to 167 deaths per 100,000 citizens from HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria combined. A framework to help strengthen access to safe, quality surgical services answers an urgent call by the World Health Organization to attain universal access to health care.
Where We Started
Pakistan's National Health Vision 2025 focused on strengthening child and maternal care and combating noncommunicable diseases. This initiative was missing an essential element: strengthening surgical care. Our Program of Global Surgery and Social Change began a collaboration with Indus Hospital in Karachi to work together to develop the National Vision for Surgical Care 2025 (NVSC2025).
Our Impact
Together with colleagues at Indus Hospital, we organized a major national stakeholder conference in Islamabad in November 2018. This conference brought together government, academia, professional societies, nongovernmental organizations, and international organizations to develop a consensus statement on strengthening surgical care in Pakistan. We developed the NVSC2025 after traveling to all four main provinces to get inputs on their interests and priorities. We are working together to research and assess the current state of surgical, obstetric, and anesthesia care in Pakistan.
Moving Forward
Our collaboration continues to grow as we help the Indus Hospital continue their journey until their NVSC2025 is part of the National Health Vision. We continue to help developing provincial surgical, obstetrics, and anesthesia plans.
Contact
Haitham Shoman, Global Surgery Research Fellow