Pneumonia related policy formation in Pakistan

Background

In order to reduce pneumonia related morbidity and mortality, the WHO and UNICEF have developed multiple action/intervention plans. They bring together critical interventions to promote practices to save the lives of children, to create healthy environments and to have access to appropriate preventive and treatment measures.

In Pakistan, these WHO guidelines have been adapted through numerous policies/programmes over the last three decades. Despite this, pneumonia related mortality remains unchanged in the country. There are concerns why these programmes have failed to deliver, despite what appear to be sound policies on paper.

There is a need to understand how pneumonia related policies are formulated in Pakistan and what are the inherent flaws in this process leading to poor outcomes.

There are multiple reasons for the inability of these programmes to deliver intended outcomes. These include a lack of indigenous ownership at the provincial, district and community level, the impact of unsteady politics on Pakistan’s health policy environment and poor implementation of programmes due to various reasons. For the best outcomes at a national level, initiatives need to be supported not only by appropriate policies and strategies but there should be local ownership of these programmes by engaging local communities at grass root level and regional delivery and governance institutions and programmes.

Aim and impact

The aim of the study is to develop a better understanding of how pneumonia related policies are formulated in Pakistan and to identify weaknesses in this process through a two phase study. The first will be in-depth study of pneumonia related policy documents and the second will be a qualitative phase with key informant interviews conducted from relevant stakeholders to understand how policies are conceptualised.

Findings from the study will help to develop recommendations for improving the process of pneumonia related policy making in Pakistan, in order to have a significant impact on reducing morbidity and mortality in Pakistan.

Key developments

• Project final report submitted.
• The study was presented as an ePoster at the 25^th Biennial International Pediatric Conference 2020 organised by the Pakistan Pediatric Association.
• The Health Minister was approached and agreed to provide a letter of support for the initiative .
• The study has been projected in front of the National Sustainable Development Goals Taskforce.
• Presented at the stakeholder engagement activities organised by MNCHRN in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab and Sindh on 7 January, 28 January and 27 February 2020.

Project data

Download the project Data Management Plan

View the project metadata on the Health Data Research Innovation Gateway