18th SAARC Summit

Statement of the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Mr. Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, at

the Inaugural Session
of the 18th SAARC Summit

(Kathmandu, 26 November 2014)

Your Excellency, Prime Minister of Nepal and Chairperson of SAARC,

Excellencies, the Heads of States and Governments of SAARC Member States

and Heads of the Observer delegations,

Distinguished Secretary General,

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is a matter of immense pleasure for me to be among my eminent

colleagues from South Asia and other friendly states, at the 18thSummit of
the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, in this beautiful city
of Kathmandu.

Nepal, needless to emphasise, is home to an old civilization, and has the

worlds highest mountain, the mighty Everest, which has held an abiding
fascination for lovers of nature.

I congratulate the Government of Nepal for successfully holding the SAARC

Summit. On behalf of my delegation and on my own behalf, I wish to express
our profound gratitude to His Excellency, the Right Honourable Prime
Minister Sushil Koirala, his Government and the people of Nepal, for making
excellent arrangements for the Summit and for their warm welcome and
hospitality.

I congratulate you, Mr. Prime Minister, on the assumption of the Chair of the
SAARC Summit. Pakistan stands with you in your endeavours to promote the
cause of regional cooperation in South Asia.

May I also take this opportunity to acknowledge the President of Maldives,

His Excellency Mr.Abdulla Yameen, for the outstanding leadership his
country has provided to the SAARC process, since the last Summit held in
Maldives in 2011. I also wish to thank the Secretary General, His Excellency
Mr. Arjun Bahadur Thapa and his team, for their efforts towards preparation
of this Summit and in promoting the SAARC Agenda.

Excellencies,

From the people of Pakistan to the people of the SAARC region, I bring warm
greetings and sentiments of goodwill and friendship.
Excellencies,

Pakistan attaches high importance to SAARC. The organisation has come to

epitomize the hopes and aspirations of the peoples of our region, for peace,
progress and prosperity.

If we look at a region which is home to nearly one quarter of humanity on

the planet, it is mired in poverty, disease and illiteracy, with lowest human
and social indicators. More than one fifth of the population is between 15-24
years of age, which is the largest number of youth to ever make transition
into adulthood. The region, however, accounts for only 6 percent of world
GDP in purchasing power parity,and only 4 percent share in world trade,
while attracting only 3 percent of global FDI. We are one of the least
integrated regions in the world.

The theme selected for the 18thSAARC Summit is important. The focus on
Deeper Integration for Peace and Prosperity is most appropriate and
reflects our common desire for promoting mutual understanding and
reaching out to each other, to create a win-win scenario.

The cultural affinity among our peoples is a huge asset. Shared geography
and history have culminated in a unique synthesis of cultures and traditions.
We must therefore, place our people at the centre of the SAARC processes.
SAARC must capture the imagination of our peoples and contribute to
creating strong and mutually beneficial bonds.
SAARC can contribute immensely towards building a trust surplus among
member states. Interfaith and inter-cultural harmony must find special
emphasis in its programmes. An interactive process in this domain will
reveal the beauty and strength of a true South Asian identity.

We should build on our inherent strengths and effectively address common

issues, such as socio-economic disparities, poverty alleviation, women
empowerment, health, and education. This requires close coordination at
national and regional levels.

Excellencies, Ladies & Gentlemen,

I am happy to note that todays South Asia has undergone a democratic

transformation. All South Asian states are vibrant democracies. We earnestly
hope that old and new democracies in South Asia will join hands to make our
region peaceful and prosperous.We must strengthen regional cooperation
through sharing of experiences, best practices and establishing institutional
linkages.
The recent monsoon floods in South Asian countries raised the importance
ofregional cooperation on cross-border information sharing, and early
floodforecasting systems, as human induced and natural disasters affect
everybody, irrespective of national boundaries and socio-economic status.

The Government of Pakistan has recently launched Pakistan Vision 2025,

which puts people first in our development equation through prioritising
human and social capital, promoting sustainable & inclusive growth, and
balanced development.

In pursuing the SAARC socio-economic agenda, we must pay special

attention to rural development, expansion of the agricultural resource base,
development of action plans to combat communicable diseases, promotion
of greater collaboration in the health sector, elimination of illiteracy,
scientific and technological capacity-building and development of
information and communication technologies.

Excellencies,

The economic development of South Asia is closely linked to the availability

of energy at an affordable price. With abundant alternate energy resources
available region-wide, we need to collectively focus on harnessing
indigenous energy production potential. We should also consider
arrangements for trans-regional oil and gas pipelines.

By virtue of its geographic location at the confluence of South Asia, West

Asia and Central Asia, Pakistan is a natural economic corridor for the region.
Promoting regional connectivity is one of the seven pillars in our
development strategy. My government is actively pursuing this initiative
which has the potential to integrate South Asia, China, and Central Asia, the
three engines of growth in Asia.A soft visa regime would greatly facilitate
the realisation of these objectives.

I also wish to emphasize the importance of the role of the SAARC Observers.
SAARC can benefit from its interaction with them.

Excellencies,

The gap between the promise of SAARC and reality of its accomplishments
needs to be bridged. We should build on convergences, minimize
divergences and most of all, seek to augment complementarities for the
greater good of the people of this region.

My vision for our region is a dispute free South Asia, where instead of
fighting each other, we jointly fight poverty, illiteracy, disease,
malnourishment, and unemployment. We invest in our youth to unleash their
creativity, talent, and enterprise. We strengthen our bonds of trust so that
we can solve our problems.

Having hosted the 4thand 12thSAARC Summits, Pakistan will be pleased to

offer itself to host the 19thSAARC Summit in Islamabad.

I wish this Summit every success.

Thank You!
 Health care in Pakistan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve
this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may
be challenged and removed. (January 2009)

Healthcare in Pakistan is administered mainly in the private sector which accounts for approximately
80% of all outpatient visits. The public sector was until recently led by theMinistry of Health, however
the Ministry was abolished in June 2011 and all health responsibilities (mainly planning and fund
allocation) were devolved to provincial Health Departments which had until now been the main
implementers of public sector health programs. Like other South Asian countries, health and
sanitation infrastructure is adequate in urban areas but is generally poor in rural areas. About 19% of
the population and 30% of children under age of five are malnourished.[citation needed]
Ministry of Health of Pakistan states that health expenditure of period 2007-08 was 3.791
billion Pakistani rupees while that spent on development was 14.272 billion.[1]

Basic health indicators [1]

Fertility rate 4.1%

Contraceptive prvalence rate 30%

Population growth rate 1.8

Malarial parasite incidence 0.07%

Incidence of tuberculosis 0.18%

Contents
[hide]

1 Health concerns
o 1.1 Infectious diseases
1.1.1 Priority diseases
1.1.2 Controllable diseases
1.1.3 Poliomyelitis
 1.1.4 HIV/AIDS
o 1.2 Family planning
o 1.3 Maternal and child health
o 1.4 Cancer care
o 1.5 Obesity
o 1.6 Malnutrition
o 1.7 Smoking
o 1.8 Drug addiction
o 1.9 Suicide
2 Resources
o 2.1 Personnel
o 2.2 Facilities
o 2.3 Professional institutes
3 Services
o 3.1 Nursing
o 3.2 Dentistry
o 3.3 Pharmacy
o 3.4 Medical tourism
o 3.5 Veterinary medicine
o 3.6 Community medicine
o 3.7 Nuclear medicine
4 See also
5 References
6 Further reading
7 External links

Health concerns[edit]
Infectious diseases[edit]

Infectious diseases in Pakistan by proportion (2006)

Priority diseases[edit]
Most common and lethal diseases in Pakistan include:
 Acute respiratory infection (51%): Among the victims of ARI, most vulnerable are children whose
immune systems have been weakened by malnutrition. In 1990, National ARI Control
Programme was started in order to reduce the mortality concerned withpneumonia and other
respiratory diseases. In following three years, death rates among victims under age of five
in Islamabad had been reduced to half.[2] In 2006, there were 16,056,000 reported cases of ARI,
out of which 25.6% were children under age of five.[3]
Viral hepatitis (7.5%): Viral Hepatitis, particularly that caused by types B and C are major
epidemics in Pakistan with nearly 12 million individuals infected with either of the virus. The main
cause remains massive overuse of therapeutic injections and reuse of syringes during these
injections in the private sector healthcare.
Malaria (16%): It is a problem faced by the lower-class people in Pakistan. The unsanitary
conditions and stagnant water bodies in the rural areas and city slums provide excellent
breeding grounds for mosquitoes. Use of nets and mosquito repellents is becoming more
common. A programme initiated by the government aims to bring down malarial incidence below
0.01% by the year 2011. In Pakistan, malarial incidence reaches its peak in September.1000
Million people has been died from Malaria since Pakistan came into being till December
2012.[4] In 2006, there were around 4,390,000 new reported cases of fever.[3]
Diarrhea (15%): There were around 4,500,000 reported cases in 2006, 14% of which were
children under the age of five.[3]
Dysentery (8%) and Scabies (7%)
Others: goitre, hepatitis and tuberculosis
Controllable diseases[edit]

Cholera: As of 2006, there were a total of 4,610 cases of suspected cholera.[3] However, the
floods of 2010 suggested that cholera transmission may be more prevalent than previously
understood. Furthermore, research from the Aga Khan University suggests that cholera may
account for a quarter of all childhood diarrhea in some parts of rural Sindh.
Dengue fever: An outbreak of dengue fever occurred in October 2006 in Pakistan. Several
deaths occurred due to misdiagnosis, late treatment and lack of awareness in the local
population. But overall, steps were taken to kill vectors for the fever and the disease was
controlled later, with minimal casualties.
Measles: As of 2008, there were a total of 441 reported cases of measles in Pakistan.[5]
Meningococcal meningitis: As of 2006, there were a total of 724 suspected cases of
Meningococcal meningitis.[3]
Poliomyelitis[edit]
Main article: Poliomyelitis in Pakistan

Pakistan is one of the few countries in which poliomyelitis has not been eradicated. As of 2008, there
were a total of 89 reported cases of polio in Pakistan.[5] Polio cases may be on an increase. The year
2010 saw an increase in the number of cases as well identification of polio from new locations.
Experts from the national program and the WHO felt that the new cases identified from southern
Punjab and northern Sindh may have resulted from importation of infections from other locations in
Pakistan. Locations in FATA and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa remain hosts for year round persistence of
infection and environmental sampling by the national program and WHO suggests that polio remains
endemic in many other parts of the country.
HIV/AIDS[edit]
Main article: HIV/AIDS in Pakistan
The AIDS epidemic is well established and may even be expanding Pakistan. Risk factors are high
rates of commercial sex and non-marital sex,[6][7] high levels of therapeutic injections (often with non-
sterile equipment),[8][9] and low use of condoms [10] The former National AIDS Control Programme (it
was devolved with the Health Ministry) and the UNAIDS state that there are an estimated 97,000
HIV positive individuals in Pakistan. However, these figures are based on dated opinions and
inaccurate assumptions; and are inconsistent with available national surveillance data which suggest
that the overall number may closer to 40,000.[11]
Family planning[edit]
Main article: Family planning in Pakistan

"The government of Pakistan wants to stabilize the population (achieve zero growth rate) by 2020.
And maximizing the usage of family planning methods is one of the pillars of the population
program".[12] The latest Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey (PDHS) conducted by Macro
International with partnership of National Institute of Population Studies (NIPS) registered family
planning usage in Pakistan to be 30 percent. While this shows an overall increase from 12 percent in
1990-91 (PDHS 1990-91), 8% of these are users of traditional methods. Approximately 7 million
women use any form of family planning and the number of urban family planning users have
remained nearly static between 1990 and 2007. Since a many of contraception users are sterilized
(38%), the actual number of women accessing any family planning services in a given year are
closer to 3 million with over half buying either condoms or pills from stores directly. Government
programs by either the Health or Population ministries together combine to reach less than 1 million
users annually.[13] Thus, fertility remains high, at 4.1 births per woman. Owing to such high fertility
levels, Pakistan's overall population growth rate is much higher than elsewhere in South Asia (1.9
percent per year).
Some of the main factors that account for this lack of progress with Family Planning include
inadequate programs that don't meet the needs of women who desire family planning or counsel
users of family planning about potential side effects, a lack of effective campaign to convince women
and their families about the value of smaller families and the overall social mores of a society where
women seldom control decisions about their own fertility or families. However the single most
important factor that has confounded efforts to promote family planning in Pakistan is the lack of
consistent supply of commodities and services.[14] Indeed, the unmet need for contraception has
remained high at around 25% of all married women of reproductive age (higher than the proportion
that are using a modern contraceptive and twice as high as the number of women being served with
family planning services in any given year[15]) and historically any attempt to supply commodities has
been met with extremely rapid rise (over 10% per annum) in contraception users compared with the
0.5% increase in national CPR over the past 50 years.
Currently the government contributes about a third of all FP services and the private sector including
NGOs the rest. Within the private sector, franchised clinics offer higher quality health care than
unfranchised clinics but there is no discernible difference between costs per client and proportion of
poorest clients across franchised and unfranchised private clinics.[16] Government programs are run
by both the Ministries of Populaition Welfare and Health. The most common method used is female
sterilization which accounts for over a third of all modern method users. Unfortunately this happens
too late for most women as sterilized women are over 30 years of age and have 4 or more children.
Condoms are the next most popular method.
Maternal and child health[edit]
In June 2011, the United Nations Population Fund released a report on The State of the World's
Midwifery. It contained new data on the midwifery workforce and policies relating to newborn and
maternal mortality for 58 countries. The 2010 maternal mortality rate per 100,000 births for Pakistan
is 260. This is compared with 376.5 in 2008 and 541.2 in 1990. The under 5 mortality rate, per 1,000
births is 89 and the neonatal mortality as a percentage of under 5's mortality is 48. The aim of this
report is to highlight ways in which the Millennium Development Goals can be achieved, particularly
Goal 4 Reduce child mortality and Goal 5 improve maternal death. In Pakistan the number of
midwives per 1,000 live births is 10 and the lifetime risk of death for pregnant women is 1 in 93.[17]
There is a huge imbalance in these figures. In Balochistan, for instance, the maternal mortality is 785
deaths per 100,000 live births which is nearly triple the national rate. It should be noted here that in
rural Pakistan, maternal mortality is nearly twice than that in cities. The sad reality is that 80 per cent
of maternal deaths are preventable.[18]
Cancer care[edit]
Main article: Cancer care in Pakistan

Cancer information on Pakistan [19] Approximately one in every 9 Pakistani women is likely to suffer
from breast cancer which is one of the highest incidence rates in Asia.[20]
Obesity[edit]
Main article: Obesity in Pakistan

Malnutrition[edit]
Main article: Malnutrition in Pakistan

Smoking[edit]
Main article: Smoking in Pakistan

Drug addiction[edit]
Main article: Drug addiction in Pakistan

Suicide[edit]
Main article: Suicide in Pakistan

Resources[edit]
Personnel (source)

Health facilities in 2009 (source)

Doctors (2009) 139,555

Total Health Facilities 13,937 103,708 beds

Dentists (2009) 9,822

Hospitals 968 84,257 beds

Nurses (2009) 69,313

Dispensaries 4,813 2,845 beds

Midwives (2009) 26,225

Rural health centers 572 9,612 beds

Health visitors (2009) 10,731

Tuberculosis clinic 293 184 beds

Registered vets (2009) 4,800
Personnel[edit] Basic health units 5,345 6,555 beds

According to official data, there are 127,859 doctors and

12,804 health facilities in M.C.H. centers 906 256 beds the country to cater for over
170 million people.[21]
Many Pakistani doctors and medical professionals
choose to migrate to other countries, contributing to a brain drain and chronic skills shortage in the
country. In the United States alone, there are over 17,000 doctors of Pakistani origin.[22] Pakistan is
the fourth highest source ofInternational medical graduate doctors in the U.S[23] as well as the fourth
highest source of foreign dentists licensed in the United States.[24]
Facilities[edit]

List of hospitals in Pakistan

Professional institutes[edit]
As of 2007, there were 48 medical colleges and 21 dental colleges in the country.[1]

List of schools of medicine in Pakistan

List of schools of dentistry in Pakistan
List of schools of pharmacy in Pakistan
List of schools of nursing in Pakistan
List of schools of veterinary medicine in Pakistan

Services[edit]
Nursing[edit]
Main article: Nursing in Pakistan

According to Dr.Shaikh Tanveer Ahmed Nursing is a major component of health care in Pakistan.
The topic has been the subject of extensive historical studies,[25] is as of 2009 a major issue in that
country,[26] and has been the subject of much scholarly discussion amongst academics and
practitioners.[27] In 2009, Pakistans government stated its intent to improve the country's nursing
care.[28]
Dentistry[edit]
Main article: Dentistry in Pakistan

At present there are upwards of 70 dental schools (public and private) throughout Pakistan,
according to the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council the state regulatory body has upwards of
11500 registered dentists. The four year training culminates in achieving a Bachelor of Dental
Surgery (BDS) degree, which requires a further one year compulsory internship to be a registered
dentist in Pakistan.
Pharmacy[edit]
Main article: Pharmaceutical industry in Pakistan

Medical tourism[edit]
Main article: Medical tourism in Pakistan
Veterinary medicine[edit]
Main article: Veterinary medicine in Pakistan

Community medicine[edit]
Pakistan is committed to the goal of making its population healthier, as evidenced by the continuing
strong support for the Social Action Program (SAP) and by the new vision for health, nutrition, and
population outlined in the National Health Policy Guidelines published by the government.

Lady health workers: A recent initiative, lady health worker, has turned out to be a
promising community-based health worker program. These workers bring health information,
some basic health care and family planning services to doorsteps of women. Presently, 96,000
women are serving as in this initiative in their home villages.[29]
Nuclear medicine[edit]
Main article: Nuclear medicine in Pakistan