Punjab’s health reforms win global acclaims

Punjab’s health sector reforms took centre stage at the ‘Health Financing Reforms: Learning and Knowledge Sharing’ event organised by the Aga Khan University (AKU) at a local hotel recently.
The event was inaugurated and chaired by Sindh Minister for Health and Population Welfare Dr Azra Pechuho, with Punjab’s Secretary Health and Population Department Ms. Nadia Saquib delivering the inaugural remarks on the province’s reform agenda.
In her plenary presentation titled “Punjab’s Journey on Purchasing Health Services to Improve Health Outcomes: Lessons for LMICs”, Ms Saqib outlined how the province had shifted from financing posts and buildings to paying for verified services delivered to citizens.
She said primary healthcare facilities had been outsourced as Maryam Nawaz Health Clinics, operating round the clock with a doctor, lady health visitor and midwife, while Rural Health Centres were being run as Maryam Nawaz Hospitals offering specialist-led services. More than 16,000 Community Health Inspectors were taking services to the doorstep, with 115.8 million people registered by name, she added.
Ms. Nadia Saqib said reforms had been given a statutory foundation through the Punjab Primary and Secondary Healthcare Services Act 2025, and that payments were released only for services verified through the Health Information Management System (HIMS) and an independent Directorate of Monitoring and Evaluation.
Punjab was represented on the panel “Purchasing Reforms in Three Provinces: Expanding Access to Primary Health Care in Pakistan” by Punjab Family Planning Programme Project Director Capt (R) Dr Usman Ali Khan. Moderated by Dr Sameen Siddiqi, the panel also featured PPHI Sindh CEO Javaid Jagirani, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Deputy Secretary Finance Gulshan Aara, Balochistan HSRU Chief Dr Shahkoh Mengal, and Global Financing Facility’s focal point for Pakistan, Supriya Madhavan.
Concluding the session, Punjab offered its support to the other provinces, pledging to share its experience and lessons so that the benefits of the reforms could reach citizens across the country.
The gathering drew leading national and international experts in health financing including Dr Zahid Memon of AKU, Dr Sherin Varkey and Dr Jahanzaib Sohail of the World Bank, Dr David Wilson of the Gates Foundation, Prof Kara Hanson and Dr Lorna Guinness of London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Dr Cheryl Cashin and Adeel Ishtiaq of Results for Development and Sindh Secretary Health Tahir Hussain Sangi.