29/12/2025
Pakistan’s public healthcare challenges are not about perception. The data is clear. Primary healthcare utilization in Punjab remains extremely low, hospitals are overcrowded with cases that should be treated at the primary level, and nearly half of all health spending is paid directly by households. When public financing is weak and primary care fails to function as the foundation of the system, people are forced to bypass public facilities and pay out of pocket. This is a system design problem that requires a primary care first solution.