Health care in Pakistan

I was in Pakistan a few years ago and fell ill after week with food poisoning. So my family and I drove round and as we went to a few hospitals, we found out that the waiting areas were overflowing, the hospitals under-equipped and under-staffed - and this was mainly the government run hospitals.

It seems it is mainly the bigger cities, Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad where you can get good treatment but at a big cost. The quality of your medical care also depends on your connections. My cousin is a doctor in Pakistan and he says there are a lot of doctors are driven purely by money.

If it was not for some of these NGOs and charitable organisations running some of the hospitals, the people of Pakistan would receive next to nothing in terms of health care. The rural areas especially have limited access to medicine.

What has been your experiences ?

Tbh, anyone going to Pakistan should avoid drinking the water over there. I know in certain places like Faisalabad the tap water is undrinkable and very salty. Best to only drink bottled water if possible.

As for doctors, it really depends on where you go, the big cities have very capable doctors and hospitals. As for smaller towns, alot of "doctors" aren't qualified, I.e. they become doctors via apprenticeships with a "doctor". I've also noticed that the chemists are run like any other corner shop with virtually no qualifications. In the UK and Europe aswell as many other countries its a 5yr course. (4 yrs study and 1 yr pre-reg).

Back home in our town there is a doctor who is a close family friend and he does free checkups for poor people and charges only cost price for any medication if they can afford to pay it, if not he gives free treatment. Sadly you won't find people like this everywhere though.