Authors: Ministry of National Health Services Regulations & Coordination, World Health Organization, Disease Control Priorities 3 (DCP3)
This report presents the steps taken by Pakistan in developing its first federal Essential Package of Health Services (EPHS) as a key step in accelerating progress towards universal health coverage. Package design followed a participatory and evidence-based prioritisation process and was guided by the Disease Control Priorities 3 (DCP3) evidence and UHC packages. Indeed, Pakistan is among the first countries in the world to adopt the DCP3 evidence and recommended interventions to inform the content of the package. The process of developing the package was guided by a set of key principles that included transparency and inclusivity, national ownership and execution, feasibility and affordability, and engagement of public sector institutions, non-governmental stakeholders, and development partners. The approach to arrive at the package considered governance and institutional arrangements, an evidence-based appraisal and prioritisation process, and evidence assessment, including costs, localised evidence, and analysis.
The full district-level package consists of 117 interventions, with 88 of them to be immediately implemented until health allocations increase to the level that meets the costs of the full package. The baseline cost of the full and immediate implementation packages is US$29.70 and US$12.98, respectively. When fully implemented, they are expected to avert up to 46.75 million DALYs.