Priority diseases

(51%): Among the victims of ARI, most vulnerable are children whose immune systems have been weakened by malnutrition. In 1990, National ARI Control Programme was started in order to reduce the mortality concerned with pneumonia and other respiratory diseases. In following three years, death rates among victims under age of five in Islamabad had been reduced to half.[2] In 2006, there were 16,056,000 reported cases of ARI, out of which 25.6% were children under age of five. (7.5%): Viral Hepatitis, particularly that caused by types B and C are major epidemics in Pakistan with nearly 12 million individuals infected with either of the virus. The main cause remains massive overuse of therapeutic injections and reuse of syringes during these injections in the private sector healthcare (16%): It is a problem faced by the lower class people in Pakistan. The unsanitary conditions and stagnant water bodies in the rural areas and city slums provide excellent breeding grounds for mosquitoes. Use of nets and mosquito repellents is becoming more common. A programme initiated by the government aims to bring down malarial incidence below 0.01% by the year 2011. In Pakistan, malarial incidence reaches its peak in September.[4] In 2006, there were around 4,390,000 new reported cases of fever.(15%): There were around 4,500,000 reported cases in 2006, 14% of which were children under the age of five.(8%) and (7%) Others:

Maternal and child health

Most births which take place at home under untrained supervision. Hence it is not very surprising to see a high maternal mortality ratio (MMR) of 297 deaths for every 100,000 live births. The lifetime risk of dying from complications related to childbirth translates as one in 89. In absolute number this amounts to 10,400 maternal deaths every year. Moreover, there is a huge imbalance in these figures. In Balochistan, for instance, the maternal mortality is 785 deaths per 100,000 live births which is nearly triple the national rate. It should be noted here that in rural Pakistan, maternal mortality is nearly twice than that in cities. The sad reality is that 80 per cent of maternal deaths are preventable. The infant mortality rate for Pakistan is 77 per 1,000 live births and the mortality rate for children under age five stands at 97.