Socioeconomic Disparities in Healthcare Access and Outcomes in Pakistan: A Pre- and Post-Pandemic Analysis of the Public-Private Divide
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17390059Keywords:
Socioeconomic Status,, Public Health Expenditure,, Political Economy of Health,, Pakistan,, Health Systems Access,, Public-Private Sector, Healthcare DisparitiesAbstract
Purpose: This study aims to analyze the disparity in healthcare access inequalities and the perceptions surrounding them as a result of the socioeconomic divide in Pakistan. The influence of macroeconomic policies and the divide between the public and private healthcare systems on the scenario during and after the pandemic years 2015 to 2024 is examined. Design/Methodology: A sequential explanatory design utilizing mixed-methods was adopted. For the quantitative component, the primary survey data of 420 respondents was coupled with secondary data at the national level on healthcare spending, economic parameters, and systems capacity. The quantitative component employed descriptive statistics, correlation, ANOVA, and multilevel regression modeling. Qualitative data was analyzed using a thematic approach.
Findings: The context of systemic strain was created and sustained by the declining national healthcare spending under high inflation. A worrying decoupling was observed: the systemic infrastructure of healthcare improved, but public funding and public satisfaction abated. Political economic choices driven by austerity to the middle class explain the dissatisfactory healthcare experience in Pakistan. The private sector healthcare system impedes access to the system and exacerbates inequity by economically buffering the affluent.
Implications/Originality Value: Increasing public expenditure on healthcare to at least 3% of GDP is necessary to expand the operational capacity of the system and make services economically accessible to the public. Middle class directed fiscal subsidies should be employed to address the accessibility divide created by the two-tiered system.
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