Abstract
This article provides insight into the status of general practice in Pakistan and challenges to its health care system. The country ranked 122nd on the overall health system attainment and ranked 7th in the world on diabetes prevalence. The public sector health care system in Pakistan is encountered with many problems such as structural fragmentation, resource scarcity, inefficiency and lack of functional specificity, gender insensitivity and inaccessibility. The general practice status in Pakistan requires immediate attention to face the challenges created by chronic diseases in the country. Of particular mention are the patient-doctor interaction, healthcare system delivery, access to the doctors and better utilization of primary health care services.
Highlights
General practice is widely regarded as being at the heart of both the primary health care system and the health system overall and GPs play a crucial role as “gateways” to the rest of the medical system [1]
The prevalence of Type 2 diabetes in Pakistan is high ranging from 7.6% (5.2 million populations) to 11% [9] and for 2030 it will increase to around 15% (13.8 million populations) and as such Pakistan is ranked 7th on diabetes prevalence list [10] and it is among the top 10 countries in the world for people with diabetes aged 20 - 79 years [11]
The most prescribed medications were related to diabetes that accounted for more than 60% of problems managed by GPs (Pakistan ranked 7th on diabetes prevalence list) [10]
Summary
General practice is widely regarded as being at the heart of both the primary health care system and the health system overall and GPs play a crucial role as “gateways” to the rest of the medical system [1]. In order to improve the overall health status of the people, poor indicators of health in the region, Pakistan Government initiated the health care reforms in 2001. (2015) Status of General Practice and Challenges to Healthcare System of Pakistan. Health Organization (WHO) ranked Pakistan 122nd in overall health system performance among 191 countries [3] [4]. The health indicators, health funding, and health and sanitation infrastructure are generally poor in Pakistan, in rural areas. Ministry of Health Pakistan statistics indicated that, there were 13,937 health institutions in the country including 945 hospitals (with a total of 103,285 hospital beds), 4755 dispensaries, 5349 basic health units (mostly in rural areas), 903 mother and child care centers, 562 rural health centers and 290 TB centers [6] [7]. There is an inequitable distribution of GPs in the country, with 70% practicing in urban areas where only 30% of the population lives: in addition, only 10% to 15% of GPs in rural areas are females [8]
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