IN Pakistan, the struggle against disease is not merely a battle against microbes or poor infrastructure but often against ourselves.
Increasingly, we “purchase diseases” through our daily lifestyle practices—unsafe medical procedures, careless hygiene, reckless use of injections and disregard for clean water—all of which are creating conditions where recovery becomes difficult, if not impossible. This pattern, particularly evident in the spread of hepatitis, reflects how neglecting public health practices drives us closer to a point of no return.
For decades, Pakistan has faced staggering health challenges. The Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey (PDHS) 2012–13 reported maternal mortality at 276 per 100,000 live births and only 63% of the population had access to clean drinking water. Widespread waterborne diseases and an alarming 12 million hepatitis B and C infections stemmed largely from preventable causes: unsafe blood transfusions, overuse of contaminated syringes and poor sterilization in medical and dental practices. Each time individuals chose cheaper, unsafe medical treatment or ignored hygiene, they unknowingly “bought” a disease, feeding into a vicious cycle of ill health. Over the past decade, reforms and initiatives have shown progress. By 2023, maternal mortality dropped to 186 per 100,000 live births and clean water access reached 89%, improving outcomes for diarrheal diseases and cholera. National hepatitis control programs launched vaccination drives, awareness campaigns and stricter regulation of unsafe practices. Yet, despite these gains, hepatitis continues to thrive because people’s behaviours and lifestyles often negate systemic improvements. The overuse of unnecessary injections, neglect of sterilization in rural clinics and reliance on unqualified practitioners keep the doors of infection wide open.
This paradox highlights the danger of focusing only on systemic change without personal responsibility. While Pakistan has aligned its efforts with Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 3 (Good Health and Well-being) and SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation), individuals still engage in daily practices that undo collective progress. Each act of negligence—sharing razors, avoiding vaccination, ignoring water treatment—contributes to a public health burden that may soon overwhelm the system.
In reality, the diseases we face are not imported but home-grown, cultivated in our choices and reinforced by social satisfaction. The trajectory suggests that unless lifestyle shifts accompany public health policies, the fight against hepatitis and other preventable diseases will stall. At that stage, the nation risks arriving at a point where treatment costs soar, disease transmission becomes uncontrollable and sustainable health targets remain unfulfilled.
Pakistan’s future health, therefore, depends not just on government programs or international aid but on whether its citizens recognize that every careless decision—every “purchase of disease”—brings us closer to irreversible damage.
—The writer is PhD Scholar, Public Health Specialist/Gold Medal Innovation Lecturer/Community Medicine Department, Rawalpindi.
