Courtesy: Wikipedia.
Pakistan's health indicators, health funding, and health and sanitation infrastructure are generally poor, particularly in rural areas. About 19 percent of the population is malnourished—a higher rate than the 17 percent average for developing countries—and 30 percent of children under age five are malnourished. Leading causes of sickness and death include gastroenteritis, respiratory infections, congenital abnormalities, tuberculosis, malaria, and typhoid fever. The United Nations estimates that in 2003 Pakistan's human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevalence rate was 0.1 percent among those 15–49, with an estimated 4,900 deaths from acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). Hepatitis B and C are also rampant with approximately 3 million cases of each in the country at the moment.

According to official data, there are 127,859 doctors and 12,804 health facilities in the country to cater for over 170 million people In 2007 there were 85 physicians for every 100,000 persons in Pakistan. Or in other words, one doctor for 1,225 people. In contrast to most countries, we a have a dearth of nurses and there are only 62,651 nurses all over the nation who are supplemented with a strong force of 96,000 Lady Health Workers (primary health care providers). According to the latest Ministry of Health Pakistan statistics, there were 13,937 health institutions in the country including 945 hospitals (with a total of 103,285 hospital beds), 4,755 dispensaries, 5,349 Basic Health Units (mostly in rural areas), 903 Mother and Child Care Centers, 562 rural health centers and 290 TB centersAccording to the World Health Organization. Pakistan's total health expenditures amounted to 3.9 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2005, and per capita health expenditures were US$49. The government provided 24.4 percent of total health expenditures, with the remainder being entirely private, out-of-pocket expenses.

Nevertheless, Pakistan is committed to the goal of making its population healthier, as evidenced by the continuing strong support for the Social Action Program (SAP) and by the new vision for health, nutrition, and population outlined in the government's National Health Policy Guidelines up to 2010. An example of a promising recent initiative is the lady health worker (LHW) community-based program, which is bringing health information, some basic health care, and family planning services to women's doorsteps. Presently, 96,000 women are serving as LHWs in their home villages.Over the last 5 years telemedicine efforts have been attempted to connect rural Pakistanis to doctors in the city. However, they have had limited success and have not affected the general population. A new initiative has begun in Karachi to connect hospitals and doctors to patients over the internet. MediConnect is creating a centralized database of all healthcare facilities in Pakistan with impartial ratings systems and instant online appointment bookings

Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto wanted Pakistan to have universal healthcare. However, this is impossible in a country where only 1% of the total population pay income tax.