Did the WHO slogan, “Health for All by the year 2000,”1 proves to be true for Pakistan?
At the WHO/Unicef conference in Alma-Ata in 1978 the concept of health for all was
accepted as a motivational vision for the world. Out of a list of targets some of them
were; “Infant Mortality Rate of 30 per 1000 live births,” “Reduction of maternal
mortality by about 50%,” “100% of deliveries attended by specialized personnel,” and
“At least 5% of the gross national product is spent on health.”1,2 Would we be able to
achieve the targets as set out by UN Millennium Development Goals.3,4 Some of these
Millennium development targets related to Public Health are; “Reduce by two-thirds,
between 1990 and 2015, the under-five mortality rate,” “Reduce by three-quarters,
between 1990 and 2015, the maternal mortality ratio,” “Have halted by 2015 and begun
to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS,” “Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the
incidence of malaria and other major diseases,” “Halve, by 2015, the proportion of people
without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation,” and “By 2020, to
have achieved a significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum
dwellers.”3
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