Health spending: the cost of neglect
Pakistan's public health indicators significantly lag behind South Asian averages, with low life expectancy and high mortality rates, stemming from chronic under-investment and misplaced priorities in the health sector.
- Pakistan's health indicators versus South Asian averages.
- The impact of chronic under-investment in healthcare.
- High maternal and infant mortality rates and population growth.
EDITORIAL: The latest Pakistan Economic Survey 2025-26 presents a disturbing picture of the country’s public health landscape. While the government points to modest improvements in some indicators, a comparison with South Asian averages shows that Pakistan continues to lag behind its regional peers on several critical measures.
More worrying is that these gaps persist despite repeated warnings from health experts and development practitioners about the consequences of chronic under-investment in the health sector.
The survey’s statistics are sobering. Pakistan’s life expectancy at birth stands at 67.8 years, nearly five years below the South Asian average of 72.6 years.
Maternal mortality remains alarmingly high at 155 deaths per 100,000 births, compared to 120 in the region, while the infant mortality rate is more than double the regional average, pointing to serious deficiencies in maternal and child healthcare services.
Equally troubling are the levels of undernutrition and stunting, which continue to affect millions of children and undermine their physical and cognitive development. These challenges are compounded by the country’s comparatively high birth rate.
Rapid population growth places immense pressure on already overstretched health, education and social welfare systems. Without effective family planning services and greater investment in reproductive health, Pakistan risks falling even further behind its neighbours in human development outcomes.
The government’s economic managers frequently cite fiscal constraints to justify limited social-sector spending. Yet the real issue is one of priorities.
Countries that have made significant gains in health outcomes have done so by treating healthcare as an investment rather than expenditure. As a matter of fact, better health produces a more productive workforce, reduces poverty and lowers long-term pressures on public finances.
Pakistan’s health indicators are not merely statistics; they reflect the lived realities of millions of citizens. Unless health — alongside education — is placed at the centre of national development planning and supported by substantially greater public investment, the country will continue to pay a heavy economic and social price for this neglect.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026
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