The Quintuple Health Burden and Social Policy for Women in Pakistan

Abstract

This chapter is about health policy for women of Pakistan and attempts to highlight the quintuple health burden facing women in the country, including maternal health issues, infectious diseases, chronic diseases, multimorbidity, and mental health issues. Demand and supply side problems are both discussed with respect to cultural and cost barriers which prevent utilization, and low public sector provision which prevents outreach to women. Reproductive health services receive the most funding and attention in Pakistan, and yet overall state health policy and regulation falls short to even meet targets for maternal health statistics. Secondary data from the World Health Organization, 2019, Ministry of National Health Services, 2021, and Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey, 2018, are used to discuss (1) the disability adjusted life years of females and key indicators for maternal health, infectious disease burden, and chronic disease burden; and (2) the socio-demographic characteristics of women who do not have health cards and health insurance. Primary data, presented as a case study, describes the double dilemma of a women from Gilgit Baltistan, who had a bad experience in home delivery from a local midwife, but also suffered due to low quality hospital services, resulting in loss of child. The last part of the chapter recommends six salient policy areas to improve the health outcomes for women in the country.