ABSTRACT

Pakistan's health status indicators are poor in comparison with other countries in South Asia. Although Pakistan is a signatory to the Millennium Development Goals set by the United Nations, it has not yet been able to achieve them, and some work is required to strengthen and implement the policies. In Pakistan, healthcare facilities are provided by both public and private sector hospitals and sometimes by public–private partnerships. The community healthcare system is divided into urban and rural regions. There are a number of institutes in Pakistan that provide free services to patients with specific medical complaints, such as the Sind Institute of Urology and Transplantation (SIUT), the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital, the Indus Hospital, and the Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH). The AKUH has recently been chosen to participate in Joint Commission International (JCI)'s International Cardiac Surgery Benchmarking Project, a pilot program to address international clinical cardiac indicators.