Pakistan's leading independent rights body (HRCP) has expressed grave concern over the poor humanitarian situation in the Northern Areas.
A 10-member group from the Human Right Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) visited the Federally Administered Northern Areas (FANA) in August to assess the level of social services and infrastructure in this poorly developed part of the country.
"Immediate attention is needed to address the humanitarian situation in FANA on account of an acute shortage of health and education facilities," Syed Iqbal Haider, secretary general of the HRCP said.
"It was very painful to see the health conditions there in Skardu [second largest city in FANA after Gilgit] the 50-bed hospital, built some 30 years ago, now contains 500 patients," Haider said.
"To take a patient to a specialist it takes 22 hours to reach Islamabad by road only under normal weather conditions, much longer in winter," he added.
The report noted that mother and child clinics in the region established under a World Bank loan were generally found to be understaffed and lacking basic equipment and medicines.
FANA, a region of about 72,500 square km, borders Pakistan's North West Frontier Province (NWFP) to the west, Afghanistan and China to the north and Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir to the east.