The government will increase health sector expenditure from the present 0.6 percent to 4 percent of GDP to bring more people in the health net, said Sherry Rehman, Minister for Information and Broadcasting and Health. She stated this while chairing the first Health Policy Task Force meeting held here on Tuesday.
She said that the country would have comprehensive national health policy after consultation with all the stakeholders. The Minister invited and welcomed suggestions and inputs from the stakeholders and general public in this regard. Addressing the members of the Task Force, she said that setting up of the Task Force was her government's first priority.
"It is a response to the most shocking reality faced by our government, which is the absence of comprehensive health policy to guide the country's health sector. It is most disturbing that the Ministry of Health is running a number of vertical programmes, but there is no basic framework to guide and set a direction for the broad areas of the nation's health management issues", she added.
Elaborating the objectives of the Task Force, she said that the task force has been delegated to employ its expertise to formulate a comprehensive and well planned health policy. It would follow an integrated approach that delivers through the provinces and districts while supporting and enhancing their activities.