Amongst the problems being faced by Pakistan, The general state of health of it’s people stands out prominently. Due to lack of awareness about health and hygiene, the number of sick people is growing by the day and hospitals cannot catch up with the ever increasing demand for treatment facilities.
Unfortunately Pakistan’s policy makers have never thought of educating the people to preserve their health through proper diet and exercise which even the poorest of the poor can follow.
I would suggest a few steps the government of Pakistan can take to arrest the ever falling standard of health in the country.
1. An aggressive and persistent health and hygiene awareness program be launched through the media and mosques.
2. A compulsory half an hour collective exercise period be enforced in all government, non government offices and shops in the country. Telenor company has introduced daily collective exercise regime for it’s employees which has shown a salutary effect on their performance.
3. Severe punishments backed by an aggressive campaign be launched against adulterators of food stuff and medicines.
4. If the government takes prophylactic measures to arrest ill health of it’s people, it will not have to invest billions on hospitals and medicines- but the million dollar question remains- who will do it against the interest of the powerful pharmaceutical industry.