ABSTRACT
Investment in medical institutions is one way that a government in Pakistan can support or solicit support from constituencies within the country. The key to understanding the interrelationships among medicine, politics, and religion in Pakistan, and thus the scope and effectiveness of health policy, lies in appreciation of the fact that healing power, much like political power, is conceptualized in religio-moral terms by the overwhelming majority of Pakistani citizens. The visitor who associates primarily with English-speaking Pakistanis in major urban areas hears about some very sophisticated hospitals of biomedicine when inquiring about medicine in Pakistan. The conception of moral power involved in validation of the legitimacy of Yunani Tibb by many Pakistanis is the key to understanding their view of healing power most broadly. Yunani- or Islami-Tibb, based on ancient Greek formulations, is generally categorized as yet another form of religious medicine.
