3. a Note on Secondary Data in Pakistan - HealthCare Indicators

8/17/2019 3. a Note on Secondary Data in Pakistan - HealthCare Indicators

1/24

This revised technical note was written by Teaching Fellow Moeen Naseer Butt at the Lahore University of

Management Sciences to serve as basis for class discussion rather than to illustrate either effective or ineffective

handling of an administrative situation. This material may not be quoted, photocopied or reproduced in anyform without the prior written consent of the Lahore University of Management Sciences. This research was

made possible through support provided by the United States Agency for International Development. The

opinions expressed herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the US Agency

for International Development or the US Government. This note was originally published as A Note on

Secondary Data in Pakistan: Education and Healthcare Indicators. The author has split the note into two parts. A

Note on Secondary Data in Pakistan: Education Indicators (16-288-2012-2) and A Note on Secondary Data in

Pakistan: Healthcare Indicators (16-289-2013-2).

© 2013 Lahore University of Management Sciences

A NOTE ON SOURCES OF SECONDARY DATA IN PAKISTAN:

HEALTHCARE INDICATORS

Secondary data carries a distinct importance in the research process. It can reduce or even

eliminate the need of primary data, which is relatively costly and time consuming to collect

and analyse. However, compiling relevant and useful secondary data can be a daunting task.

The purpose of this note is to compile a list of key secondary data sources of healthcare

indicators in Pakistan.

According to the Oxford Dictionary, “An Indicator is a thing that indicates the state and level

of something”. There could be many indicators for showing the progress of a particular

event. For example, in the healthcare sector, „Average Life Expectancy‟ could be an indicator

to show the overall health and wellbeing of a country, as better health services can lead to

greater efficiency, and longer life-spans. The healthcare sector plays a pivotal role in theeconomic development of a nation and the level of healthcare services in Pakistan are much

lower than the standard in developed nations. For example, the average life expectancy for

Pakistan is 66.35 years as compared to 78.49 years for the United States (U.S.)1.

1 World Bank (2011 estimate)


2/24

16-289-2013-2

-2-

The objective of this note is, to be used as supplementary training material for the Monitoring

& Evaluation (M&E) training programs of ASP2-LUMS, SEDC

3, and other clients in

conjunction with Logical Framework Analysis (LFA)/Results Based Monitoring (RBM)

framework development. It can be used in the topics of developing indicators and research

methods in the same training programs. It may also be used as a basis of class-room

discussion on secondary data sources and their importance. Furthermore this note would be

helpful for project managers, practitioners, and students who are undertaking their research

projects on healthcare topics.

Effort has been made to include all major government and non-government sources of

information related to healthcare indicators that are available in Pakistan. In the report, the

sources have been taken from non-government to government levels for each category of the

indicators mentioned. The web-links mentioned along-with the sources provide a key todirectly go to those sources and get the relevant information. A description of the sources has

been provided in Appendix A.

IMPORTANCE OF SECONDARY DATA

The data for research purposes is classified as either „Primary‟ or „Secondary‟ depending

upon the purpose of collecting it. „Primary Data‟ is collected for the first time for a specific

research purpose. On the other hand, „Secondary Data‟ is data that is already available and

has been collected for some other purpose. While obtaining primary data is expensive and

time consuming, secondary data can be located quickly and inexpensively; therefore,

secondary data should be collected and analysed before proceeding to primary data

collection. In some cases, secondary data may be sufficient to solve the research problem;

thereby eliminating the need for collecting primary data4.

The advantages of secondary data include its easy accessibility, low cost, and quick

availability. Some of the disadvantages of secondary data include its limited relevance and

usefulness to the research problem at hand. It may also be outdated and lack accuracy.

Malhotra& Dash (2010) suggest that secondary data should be evaluated on its

2 Assessment and Strengthening Program

3Social Enterprise Development Centre4Kotler, P., & Keller, K. (2006). Marketing management . (12 ed.). New Delhi: Pearson.


3/24

16-289-2013-2

-3-

specifications/methodology, error/accuracy, currency, objective, nature, and dependability.

Secondary data includes, information made available by government sources, non-

government sources, academic sources, businesses, commercial marketing research firms,

and computerised databases5.

In this research note, the focus will be on secondary data sources in Pakistan related to only

healthcare indicators.

SOURCES OF SECONDARY DATA IN PAKISTAN

There are some very rich sources of secondary data for the healthcare sector in Pakistan.

Various non-governmental agencies like World Health Organisation (WHO) and World Bank

have acquired a reputation for providing high quality and unbiased information on thehealthcare sector of Pakistan. A number of government sector institutions also provide

similar data.

A major problem when considering data for Pakistan is the issue of reliability because a

number of projects or institutions that are shown in the data may not actually exist. Keeping

these issues in mind, all such information should be vetted from multiple sources and the

credibility and collection techniques of the data provider should also be considered.

SOURCES OF SECONDARY DATA FOR HEALTHCARE INDICATORS

INPAKISTAN

Secondary data for health care indicators in Pakistan can be accessed from various sources.

Due to a lack of evidence-based healthcare in Pakistani hospitals, the major chunk of this

data comes from international organisations, however both local (Government and Non-

Government) and international sources have been included in this note. The five categories of

healthcare indicators followed in this note have been shown in Figure 1 below:

5Malhotra, N. (2010). Marketing Research: An Applied Orientation. (6th ed.). New Delhi: Pearson.


4/24

16-289-2013-2

-4-

Figure 1

Categories of Healthcare Indicators

CATEGORIES OF HEALTHCARE INDICATORS

Diseases/Mortality Rate

The data included in this text includes the number of patients with certain major diseases and

the mortality rate (number of deaths), in general, and due to some of those diseases.

1. Non-Government Sources

1a. MEASURE Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS)

http://www.measuredhs.com/Publications/Publication-

Search.cfm?c=Pakistan&Country=Pakistan

The DHS‟s webpage for publications on Pakistan has the documents

mentioned below, that have data related to diseases/mortality rate. The reports

were published with data for the years 1990-91 and 2006-07.

1ai. Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS): This document has data on

malaria, HIV/AIDS and adult and maternal mortality. DHS is a detailed

Healthcare Indicators

Disease/

Mortality

Related

Fertility/

Maternity

Related

HealthcareFacilities

Related

HIV/Aids

Related

Nutrition

Related

http://www.measuredhs.com/Publications/Publication-Search.cfm?c=Pakistan&Country=Pakistanhttp://www.measuredhs.com/Publications/Publication-Search.cfm?c=Pakistan&Country=Pakistanhttp://www.measuredhs.com/Publications/Publication-Search.cfm?c=Pakistan&Country=Pakistanhttp://www.measuredhs.com/Publications/Publication-Search.cfm?c=Pakistan&Country=Pakistan


5/24

16-289-2013-2

-5-

document. Measure-DHS also has concise documents with data targeted for

specific groups. Details about these documents are given below.

1aii. Policy Briefs: Policy Briefs are short one to two-page documents that

highlight key findings from the survey and their implications for national policies. Geared towards decision makers, policy briefs have data on child and

infant mortality and adult mortality. They are usually jointly developed by

MEASURE DHS project staff and local content specialists.

1aiii. Key Findings: This provides a colourful synopsis of the more

comprehensive DHS final report and highlight key findings from each

country's survey. In most cases, they are published in the language of the

country, and are designed for use by policy makers and program planners in

the surveyed countries.

1aiv. Key Indicators Survey (KIS): This has data for population and health

activities at the micro level i.e. districts and catchment areas, etc. that may

have been targeted by an individual project, although they can be used in

nationally representative surveys as well.

1b. World Bank

http://databank.worldbank.org/ddp/editReport?REQUEST_SOURCE=search&CNO=2&country=PAK&series=&period=

The World Bank‟s data-bank section for Pakistan has data dating back from 1960 till

2011. Related to mortality rates, it has data on adult mortality by gender and mortality

rate by age. It also has data for the prevalence of major diseases like tuberculosis, low

birth weight and smoking. This data is available in formats compatible with Microsoft

Excel and Stata.

1c. World Health Organisation (WHO)

http://www.who.int/gho/countries/pak.pdf

The link given above is for the WHO document titled: „Pakistan Health Profile‟. It

has data on life-expectancy at birth, under-5 mortality, adult mortality rate, maternal

mortality ratio, prevalence of TB, distribution of causes of death, which is available

http://databank.worldbank.org/ddp/editReport?REQUEST_SOURCE=search&CNO=2&country=PAK&series=&periodhttp://databank.worldbank.org/ddp/editReport?REQUEST_SOURCE=search&CNO=2&country=PAK&series=&periodhttp://www.who.int/gho/countries/pak.pdfhttp://www.who.int/gho/countries/pak.pdfhttp://databank.worldbank.org/ddp/editReport?REQUEST_SOURCE=search&CNO=2&country=PAK&series=&periodhttp://databank.worldbank.org/ddp/editReport?REQUEST_SOURCE=search&CNO=2&country=PAK&series=&period


6/24

16-289-2013-2

-6-

till 2010.Data for under-five mortality i.e. differences by rural, urban, poorest and

wealthiest 20 percent is available till 2005 and data on adult risk factors for males and

females(raised blood glucose, raised blood pressure, obesity, tobacco use) is available

till 2008.

http://www.who.int/chp/chronic disease_report/media/pakistan.pdf

The link given above is for the WHO document titled: „The impact of chronic disease

in Pakistan‟. It has data on deaths by chronic diseases, data on causes of deaths

(cardiovascular, injury, cancer, diabetes, respiratory, maternal and nutritional

deficiencies etc.) in 2005 and also contains percentage increases for forecasting

purposes. Forecasted obesity percentages by gender for 2015 are also available in the

document.

http://gamapserver.who.int/gareports/Default.aspx?ReportNo=1&CountryCode=PK

The webpage given above from the WHO website gives weekly data for the year

2011 & 2012 on the number of positive influenza specimen by subtype. This data has

been updated till June 2012.

http://www.who.int/substance_abuse/publications/global_alcohol_report/profiles/pak.

pdf

The document link given above by WHO, gives data on alcohol consumption and

alcohol policy in Pakistan. The data for per capita consumption is available from

1961-2005. There is also data available for percentage of lifetime abstainers, drinkers

and excessive drinkers for the year 2005 only.

http://www.who.int/malaria/publications/country-profiles/profile_pak_en.pdf

The WHO document on malaria in Pakistan has data on the yearly amount of funding

given by different sources for 2004-2010, WHO-recommended strategies and years

they were adopted in, positive malaria tests, admissions and deaths for 2001-2010.

http://www.who.int/chp/chronic%20disease_report/media/pakistan.pdfhttp://gamapserver.who.int/gareports/Default.aspx?ReportNo=1&CountryCode=PKhttp://www.who.int/substance_abuse/publications/global_alcohol_report/profiles/pak.pdfhttp://www.who.int/substance_abuse/publications/global_alcohol_report/profiles/pak.pdfhttp://www.who.int/malaria/publications/country-profiles/profile_pak_en.pdfhttp://www.who.int/malaria/publications/country-profiles/profile_pak_en.pdfhttp://www.who.int/substance_abuse/publications/global_alcohol_report/profiles/pak.pdfhttp://www.who.int/substance_abuse/publications/global_alcohol_report/profiles/pak.pdfhttp://gamapserver.who.int/gareports/Default.aspx?ReportNo=1&CountryCode=PKhttp://www.who.int/chp/chronic%20disease_report/media/pakistan.pdf


7/24

16-289-2013-2

-7-

2. Government Sources

2a. Ministry of Finance

http://www.finance.gov.pk/survey_1112.html

The ministry of f inance publishes an annual document titled „Pakistan

Economic Survey‟. This survey is published at the end of the fiscal year. The

report is a compilation of data from various sources. Pertaining to

diseases/mortality rates, data is available for: mortality rate, TB case

detection, life expectancy and data on expanded program of immunisation‟s

vaccination performance.

2b. Ministry of Finance-Planning & Development Divisionhttp://www.pc.gov.pk/index.htm

The Planning & Development Division has the following data available:

expanded program of immunisation, national T.B. control program, roll back

malaria control program, national program for prevention and control of

blindness, NIH, Islamabad, prime minister‟s program for prevention & control

of hepatitis, NIH, Islamabad, national program for prevention and control of

avian pandemic influenza, NIH, Islamabad.

2c. Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS)

http://www.pbs.gov.pk/content/pakistan-social-and-living-standards-

measurement

Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) has data related to the following program;

The Pakistan Social and Living Standards Measurement (PSLM) Project:

Percentage distribution of population fallen sick or injured during last

two weeks of the interview and by health consultation

Percentage distribution of population under 5 years fallen sick or

injured during last two weeks of the interview and by health

consultation

http://www.finance.gov.pk/survey_1112.htmlhttp://www.pc.gov.pk/index.htmhttp://www.pbs.gov.pk/content/pakistan-social-and-living-standards-measurementhttp://www.pbs.gov.pk/content/pakistan-social-and-living-standards-measurementhttp://www.pbs.gov.pk/content/pakistan-social-and-living-standards-measurementhttp://www.pbs.gov.pk/content/pakistan-social-and-living-standards-measurementhttp://www.pc.gov.pk/index.htmhttp://www.finance.gov.pk/survey_1112.html


8/24

16-289-2013-2

-8-

Percent distribution of health consultations in past 2 weeks by type of

health provider consulted

Percentage of children aged 12-23 months that have been immunised

A: Based on Recall -At Least One Immunisation.


B: Based on Record-Fully Immunised


C: Based On Recall and Record - Fully Immunised

Percentage of children 12-23 months that have been immunised by

type of antigen-based on record and recall.

Children under 5 suffering from Diarrhea in past 30 days-By province

and district

Treatment of diarrhoea in children under 5 years

Treatment of diarrhoea in children under 5 years

Type of practitioner consulted for diarrhea treatment

Pregnant women that have received Tetanus Toxoid injection

Fertility/Maternity

The information included in this section includes fertility (i.e. the natural capacity to produce

offspring) and data on issues related to maternity e.g. deaths of child and mother at birth,

causes of infant mortality and overall health profile of young children.


1a. MEASURE Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS)

http://www.measuredhs.com/Publications/Publication-

Search.cfm?c=Pakistan&Country=Pakistan

DHS contains the data mentioned below in its highlighted publications. The

publications are for the years 1990-91 and 2006-07.

1ai. Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS):Household population by age,

fertility, family planning, other determinants of fertility, fertility preference,

http://www.measuredhs.com/Publications/Publication-Search.cfm?c=Pakistan&Country=Pakistanhttp://www.measuredhs.com/Publications/Publication-Search.cfm?c=Pakistan&Country=Pakistanhttp://www.measuredhs.com/Publications/Publication-Search.cfm?c=Pakistan&Country=Pakistanhttp://www.measuredhs.com/Publications/Publication-Search.cfm?c=Pakistan&Country=Pakistan


9/24

16-289-2013-2

-9-

infant and child mortality, reproductive health, child health, and maternal

mortality.

1aii. Policy Briefs: Fertility and family planning, child and infant mortality,

adult mortality, child health, and maternal health.

1b. UNESCO Institute of Statistics (UIS)

http://stats.uis.unesco.org/unesco/TableViewer/document.aspx?ReportId=121

&IF_Language=eng&BR_Country=5860&BR_Region=40535

The link given above has data on total fertility rate, infant mortality rate, and

life expectancy at birth.

1c. United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)

http://www.unicef.org/pakistan/UNICEF_Pakistan_2010_Annual_Report_-

low_res.pdf

UNICEF‟s latest annual report is for 2010. This is an annual publication and

has data on 1-2 year old children. The report highlights the main issues

affecting children in Pakistan during the year in question. The statistics

available are related to:

Maternal and child healthcare

Child protection

Apart from these statistics there is information on funds allocated and actions

taken to alleviate these problems e.g. the amount of polio vaccination

dispensed.

A number of data tables are available in the „state of world‟s children‟ section

of UNICEFs website. The tables have data for 1990 and 2010 and in some

cases yearly for 1990-2000. The data available is given country-wise for the

whole world.

http://stats.uis.unesco.org/unesco/TableViewer/document.aspx?ReportId=121&IF_Language=eng&BR_Country=5860&BR_Region=40535http://stats.uis.unesco.org/unesco/TableViewer/document.aspx?ReportId=121&IF_Language=eng&BR_Country=5860&BR_Region=40535http://www.unicef.org/pakistan/UNICEF_Pakistan_2010_Annual_Report_-low_res.pdfhttp://www.unicef.org/pakistan/UNICEF_Pakistan_2010_Annual_Report_-low_res.pdfhttp://www.unicef.org/pakistan/UNICEF_Pakistan_2010_Annual_Report_-low_res.pdfhttp://www.unicef.org/pakistan/UNICEF_Pakistan_2010_Annual_Report_-low_res.pdfhttp://www.unicef.org/pakistan/UNICEF_Pakistan_2010_Annual_Report_-low_res.pdfhttp://stats.uis.unesco.org/unesco/TableViewer/document.aspx?ReportId=121&IF_Language=eng&BR_Country=5860&BR_Region=40535http://stats.uis.unesco.org/unesco/TableViewer/document.aspx?ReportId=121&IF_Language=eng&BR_Country=5860&BR_Region=40535


10/24

16-289-2013-2

-10-

The statistics available are related to:

Basic indicators for children, nutrition and health

HIV/AIDS

Demographics

Women

Child protection

Rate of progress

Adolescents

Equity-residence

Equity-household wealth

Under-five mortality

1d. World Bank

http://databank.worldbank.org/ddp/editReport?REQUEST_SOURCE=search

&CNO=2&country=PAK&series=&period=

The World Bank‟s databank section for Pakistan has data dating back to 1960

till 2011. Related to fertility/maternal and child health; it has data on low-birth

weight babies (percentage of births), adolescent fertility rate (births per 1,000

women ages 15-19), births attended by skilled health staff (percentage oftotal), fertility rate, total (births per woman), lifetime risk of maternal death

(percentage), maternal mortality ratio (national estimate, per 100,000 live

births), number of maternal deaths, pregnant women receiving prenatal care

(percentage),teenage mothers (percentage of women ages 15-19 who have had

children or are currently pregnant), wanted fertility rate (births per woman)

and children (0-14) living with HIV.

1e. World Health Organisation (WHO)http://www.who.int/gho/countries/pak.pdf

The data available in the” Pakistan Health Profile” document of the WHO is

on, life-expectancy at birth, under-5 mortality, adult mortality rate and

maternal mortality ratio. This data is available till 2010.

http://databank.worldbank.org/ddp/editReport?REQUEST_SOURCE=search&CNO=2&country=PAK&series=&periodhttp://databank.worldbank.org/ddp/editReport?REQUEST_SOURCE=search&CNO=2&country=PAK&series=&periodhttp://www.who.int/gho/countries/pak.pdfhttp://www.who.int/gho/countries/pak.pdfhttp://databank.worldbank.org/ddp/editReport?REQUEST_SOURCE=search&CNO=2&country=PAK&series=&periodhttp://databank.worldbank.org/ddp/editReport?REQUEST_SOURCE=search&CNO=2&country=PAK&series=&period


11/24

16-289-2013-2

-11-

Government Sources

1. Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS)

http://www.pbs.gov.pk/node/356

The Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) website has the following relevant

data:

The Pakistan Social and Living Standards Measurement (PSLM) Project:

Percentage distribution of population under 5 years fallen sick or injured

during last two weeks of the interview and by health consultation

Percentage of children aged 12-23 Months that have been immunisedA:Based on Recall -At Least One Immunisation.

Percentage of children aged 12-23 months that have been immunised B:

Based on Record-Fully Immunised

Percentage of children aged 12-23 months that have been immunised C:

Based On Recall and Record - Fully Immunised

Percentage of children 12-23 months that have been immunised by type of

antigen-based on record and recall.

Children under 5 suffering from Diarrhea in past 30 days-By province anddistrict

Treatment of Diarrhoea in Children Under 5 Years

Treatment of Diarrhoea in Children Under 5 Years

Pre-Natal Consultation-By Province And Person/Facility

Pregnant Women that have received Tetanus Toxoid Injection

Child Delivery-Location and Type of Assistance

Post-Natal Consultations-By Province and District

http://www.pbs.gov.pk/node/356http://www.pbs.gov.pk/node/356http://www.pbs.gov.pk/node/356


12/24

16-289-2013-2

-12-

2. Department of Health-Government of Punjab

http://health.punjab.gov.pk/?q=Punjab_Health_Profile

The Department of Health‟s website has a number of publications on its

website. The data available is given below with the name of the publication in

bold.

2a. Punjab Health Profile: This section has the following current available

data; infant mortality rate, maternal mortality ratio/100,000,under-five

mortality/1000, percentage age of under nutrition (


13/24

16-289-2013-2

-13-

1aii. Estimates for the Use of Improved Sanitation Facilities (Joint

Monitoring Program for Water Supply and Sanitation by

WHO/UNICEF)

http://www.wssinfo.org/

It has detailed data (five-yearly) on sanitation starting 1990, with new data

updated every five years. The data includes sanitation coverage estimates,

improvement trends for rural and urban areas, improved, shared and

unimproved sanitation facilities and open defecation percentages.

1aiii. Estimates for the Use of Improved Drinking-Water Sources (Joint

Monitoring Program for Water supply and Sanitation byWHO/UNICEF)

http://www.wssinfo.org/

It has detailed data (five-yearly) on improved drinking water sources starting

form 1990 till2010.It was last updated in March, 2012 with the next available

data on the topic being for 2015. The data includes drinking water coverage

by type, for example whether water was piped onto premises or whether

surface water was used.

1aiv. Official Development Assistance (ODA) for Health to Pakistan

http://www.who.int/gho/governance_aid_effectiveness/countries/pak.pdf

This document lists the yearly dollar figures for official development

assistance given to Pakistan for years 2002-2009 and also their respective

allocation i.e. monies spent on HIV or family planning etc. The document also

has information on the amount provided by each country and institution. Data

collection by NGO‟s is mainly tied to aid and initiatives taken by those

NGO‟s depending on the security situation and other factors.

http://www.wssinfo.org/http://www.wssinfo.org/http://beta.hec.gov.pk/InsideHEC/Divisions/QALI/Others/Statistics/Pages/YearWiseSummary2.aspxhttp://beta.hec.gov.pk/InsideHEC/Divisions/QALI/Others/Statistics/Pages/YearWiseSummary2.aspxhttp://beta.hec.gov.pk/InsideHEC/Divisions/QALI/Others/Statistics/Pages/YearWiseSummary2.aspxhttp://www.wssinfo.org/http://www.wssinfo.org/http://www.who.int/gho/governance_aid_effectiveness/countries/pak.pdfhttp://www.who.int/gho/governance_aid_effectiveness/countries/pak.pdfhttp://www.wssinfo.org/http://beta.hec.gov.pk/InsideHEC/Divisions/QALI/Others/Statistics/Pages/YearWiseSummary2.aspxhttp://beta.hec.gov.pk/InsideHEC/Divisions/QALI/Others/Statistics/Pages/YearWiseSummary2.aspxhttp://beta.hec.gov.pk/InsideHEC/Divisions/QALI/Others/Statistics/Pages/YearWiseSummary2.aspxhttp://www.wssinfo.org/


14/24

16-289-2013-2

-14-

Government Sources

1. Ministry of Finance

http://www.finance.gov.pk/survey_1112.html

The Ministry of Finance publishes an annual document titled „Pakistan

Economic Survey‟. The Economic Survey is produced yearly in July for the

previous fiscal year and has the following relevant data:

Health and nutrition expenditure

Health manpower i.e. doctors and nurses etc.

Number of hospital beds

Number of drug seizures by type of drug

Food availability per capita by food type

Number of national medical and health establishments i.e. hospital

dispensaries etc.

Number of registered health professionals and paramedics

Data on expanded program of immunisation vaccination performance

Doctor consulting fees in various major cities

2. Department of Health-Government of Balochistan

http://www.balochistan.gov.pk/

The Department of Health works under the Government of Balochistan and

has the following current data:

Development and non-development budget for health in Balochistan

Facilities and other information (number of beds and departments etc.) aboutgovernment hospitals in Balochistan

http://www.finance.gov.pk/survey_1112.htmlhttp://www.balochistan.gov.pk/http://www.balochistan.gov.pk/http://www.balochistan.gov.pk/http://www.finance.gov.pk/survey_1112.html


15/24

16-289-2013-2

-15-

3. Department of Health-Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhawa

http://www.healthkp.gov.pk/healthstatistics.asp

The Department of Health website has the following health statistics available

on its website:

Number of medical facilities by type. For example: number of hospitals,

dispensaries and health centers etc.

Number of medical training institutions by type. For example: number of

medical & dental colleges, nursing schools and public health schools etc.

Number of health care personnel. For example: number of medical officers,

dental surgeons, dispensers and lady health workers etc.

4. Department of Health-Government of Punjab

The Department of Health website has a number of publications on its

website. The data available is given below by type of publication:

4a. Punjab Health Profile

http://health.punjab.gov.pk/?q=Punjab_Health_Profile

This section has the following data available.

Number of Hospitals

Number of Dispensaries

Number of Beds

4b. Health Infrastructure (Division and District Wise)http://health.punjab.gov.pk/?q=system/files/Division_and_district_wise_facilit

ies.pdf

This document is available in pdf format and has the following data:

Number of Hospitals by Type

http://www.healthkp.gov.pk/healthstatistics.asphttp://health.punjab.gov.pk/?q=Punjab_Health_Profilehttp://health.punjab.gov.pk/?q=system/files/Division_and_district_wise_facilities.pdfhttp://health.punjab.gov.pk/?q=system/files/Division_and_district_wise_facilities.pdfhttp://health.punjab.gov.pk/?q=system/files/Division_and_district_wise_facilities.pdfhttp://health.punjab.gov.pk/?q=system/files/Division_and_district_wise_facilities.pdfhttp://health.punjab.gov.pk/?q=Punjab_Health_Profilehttp://www.healthkp.gov.pk/healthstatistics.asp


16/24

16-289-2013-2

-16-

District-wise Number of Teaching Hospitals, District Head-Quarters

Hospitals, Tehsil Head-Quarters Hospitals and Rural Health Centers in all the

divisions of Punjab.

4c. Performance Review of District Hospitals:

http://health.punjab.gov.pk/?q=system/files/Performance_Review_Dist_Teh_

Hosp.pdf

This document is available in pdf format and has the following data:

Outpatient (OPD)6Attendance

Outpatients Visits versus Total District Population

Outpatients Attendance by Age, Specialty and Gender.

Utilisation of In-Door Services by Specialty.

Bed Occupancy Rate by Specialty and District.

Percentage of Hospital Deaths

Number of Deaths versus Admissions by Specialty

OPD and Indoor Utilisation by Month.

The document also has data on trends in top diseases and appraisal of performance of

laboratory facilities.

Number of Medical Facilities by Type e.g. number of hospitals, dispensaries

and health centers etc.

Number of Medical Training Institutions by Type e.g. number of medical,

dental colleges, nursing schools and public health schools etc.

Number of Health Care Personnel e.g. number of medical officers, dental

surgeons, dispensers and lady health workers etc.

6 OPD: Out Patient Department

http://health.punjab.gov.pk/?q=system/files/Performance_Review_Dist_Teh_Hosp.pdfhttp://health.punjab.gov.pk/?q=system/files/Performance_Review_Dist_Teh_Hosp.pdfhttp://health.punjab.gov.pk/?q=system/files/Performance_Review_Dist_Teh_Hosp.pdfhttp://health.punjab.gov.pk/?q=system/files/Performance_Review_Dist_Teh_Hosp.pdf


17/24

16-289-2013-2

-17-

4d. Provincial Report Quarterly/Annual Report

http://health.punjab.gov.pk/index.php?q=Reports

This is the most comprehensive report published by the Department of Health,

Punjab and is issued at the end of every quarter and year. The latest document

available is for the first quarter of 2012 and has the following data:

Number of Health Facilities by District / Type

Reporting Compliance

OPD Attendance

District and Facility wise Average Number of OPD Visits (Per Day)

New and Follow-up Visits

Patients Distribution by Gender (New Visits)

Frequency of Referred-in Cases

Disease Pattern

Facilities wise Average Number of Deliveries Conducted (Per Month)

Obstetric Complications Attending Indoor

Caesarean Section Performed

Family Planning Visits

Couple-Years of Protection

District-wise Number of Commodities Distributed

Percentage of Pregnant Women Newly Registered by the LHW7

Delivery by Skilled Birth Attendants reported through LHW

Immunisation Coverage

Tetanus Toxoid (TT-II) Coverage

Drug Stock out Status

Proportion of Healthcare Staff Position Filled

7 LHW: Lady Health Worker

http://health.punjab.gov.pk/index.php?q=Reportshttp://health.punjab.gov.pk/index.php?q=Reports


18/24

16-289-2013-2

-18-

4e.Department of Health-Government of Sindh

http://www.sindhhealth.gov.pk/n/minister.htm

Department of Health, Sindh website has the total number and names of

hospitals in Sindh.

HIV/Aids

The information included in this section includes data about the patients suffering from HIV,

facilities and the precautionary measures being taken to alleviate and stop spreading of the

HIV virus.


1a. UNAIDS

http://www.unaids.org/globalreport/documents/20101123_GlobalReport_full_

en.pdf

The UNAIDS Global Report 2010,contains data for the number of people

infected with AIDS, major causes, number of sex workers, and number of sex

workers using protection

1b. United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)

http://www.unicef.org/sowc2012/statistics.php

A number of data tables are available in the „state of world‟s children‟ section

of UNICEF website. The tables have data for 1990 and 2010 and in some

cases yearly for 1990-2000. The data available is given country-wise for the

whole world. This section has data related to HIV prevalence in children.

http://www.sindhhealth.gov.pk/n/minister.htmhttp://www.unaids.org/globalreport/documents/20101123_GlobalReport_full_en.pdfhttp://www.unaids.org/globalreport/documents/20101123_GlobalReport_full_en.pdfhttp://www.unaids.org/globalreport/documents/20101123_GlobalReport_full_en.pdfhttp://www.unicef.org/sowc2012/statistics.phphttp://www.unicef.org/sowc2012/statistics.phphttp://www.unicef.org/sowc2012/statistics.phphttp://www.unaids.org/globalreport/documents/20101123_GlobalReport_full_en.pdfhttp://www.unaids.org/globalreport/documents/20101123_GlobalReport_full_en.pdfhttp://www.sindhhealth.gov.pk/n/minister.htm


19/24

16-289-2013-2

-19-

1c. World Bank



The World Bank‟s databank section for Pakistan has HIV related data on total

prevalence of HIV and HIV prevalence by age.

1d. World Health Organisation (WHO)

http://www.who.int/gho/countries/pak.pdf

The link given above is for the WHO document titled: „Pakistan Health

Profile‟ and has data on the prevalence of HIV which is available till 2010.

Nutrition

The data included in this section includes information about diet, deficiencies in diet and the

resultant problems. The impact and importance of this section can be judged by the fact that

the UN report titled „The Impact of Chronic Diseases in Pakistan‟ estimates that in 2005, 50

percent of deaths were due to communicable, maternal and prenatal nutritional deficiencies.


1a. United Nations Children’s Fund(UNICEF)

http://www.unicef.org/sowc2012/statistics.php

The tables have data for 1990 and 2010 and in some cases yearly for 1990-

2000. The data available is given country-wise for the whole world. This

section has data on basic indicators for children, nutrition and health.

1b. World Bank



The World Bank‟s databank section for Pakistan has nutrition related data on

malnutrition by age and weight for children under-5, prevalence of overweight

http://databank.worldbank.org/ddp/editReport?REQUEST_SOURCE=search&CNO=2&country=PAK&series=&periodhttp://databank.worldbank.org/ddp/editReport?REQUEST_SOURCE=search&CNO=2&country=PAK&series=&periodhttp://www.who.int/gho/countries/pak.pdfhttp://www.unicef.org/sowc2012/statistics.phphttp://databank.worldbank.org/ddp/editReport?REQUEST_SOURCE=search&CNO=2&country=PAK&series=&periodhttp://databank.worldbank.org/ddp/editReport?REQUEST_SOURCE=search&CNO=2&country=PAK&series=&periodhttp://databank.worldbank.org/ddp/editReport?REQUEST_SOURCE=search&CNO=2&country=PAK&series=&periodhttp://databank.worldbank.org/ddp/editReport?REQUEST_SOURCE=search&CNO=2&country=PAK&series=&periodhttp://www.unicef.org/sowc2012/statistics.phphttp://www.who.int/gho/countries/pak.pdfhttp://databank.worldbank.org/ddp/editReport?REQUEST_SOURCE=search&CNO=2&country=PAK&series=&periodhttp://databank.worldbank.org/ddp/editReport?REQUEST_SOURCE=search&CNO=2&country=PAK&series=&period


20/24

16-289-2013-2

-20-

and underweight for children under-5 and Vitamin A supplementation

coverage rate (Percentage of children ages 6-59 months).

CONCLUSION

The healthcare sector takes up a significant proportion of the national budget as well as

foreign aid. Discounting the financial importance, there is also a huge significance of this

sector in the economic development of a country. This note will serve as an aid to training

geared towards monitoring and evaluation and research related to the healthcare sector of

Pakistan.

This note would be helpful both as a supplementary teaching material and as a useful guide

of sources for practitioners, project managers and students undertaking projects related to thehealthcare sector of Pakistan. Even though this is not an exhaustive list of all available

secondary data sources of healthcare indicators in Pakistan, effort has been made to include

all key indicators related to this sector. As a supplementary teaching material, this note may

be used in several courses and training programs like Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E) and

Research Methods along with case studies and related chapters. The project managers and

students intending to undertake healthcare related projects may also get benefit from this

handy guide of secondary data sources of health indicators. The web-links provided with

each source would be useful in directly accessing the desired data and information. Further

related data and information may also be explored through those web-links.

The Appendix includes brief notes about the sources provided and the frequency of data

available. These brief notes will help in judging the quality, relevance, and usefulness of the

data available in the identified sources.


21/24

16-289-2013-2

-21-

Appendix A



Brief Description of Sources of Healthcare Indicators

Non-Government Sources

i) MEASURE Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS)

http://www.measuredhs.com/

The MEASURE Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) Project is responsible for

collecting and disseminating data on health and population in developing countries.The project is implemented by Macro International, Inc. (now ICF International) and

is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) with

contributions from other donors such as UNICEF, UNFPA, WHO, and UNAIDS.

DHS has earned a reputation for collecting accurate data. It has partnered with

institutions like „Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health/Center for

Communication Programs‟ to expand access to its data. The latest edition of the most

detailed report on Pakistan; titled „Demographic and Health Survey 2006-2007‟ was

published in 2008. Most of the data is for the 5-year period 1991-96 but some of the

data goes back as far as 1984.

ii) UNAIDS (The Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS)

http://www.unaids.org/

UNAIDS is the joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS. Its mission is to lead

and inspire the world in achieving universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care

and support. As the objective of this organisation is to solely tackle AIDS, the data on

AIDS by this institution is considered more reliable and detailed than found in other

documents, for example by WHO or UNICEF etc.

http://www.measuredhs.com/http://www.unaids.org/http://www.unaids.org/http://www.unaids.org/http://www.measuredhs.com/


22/24

16-289-2013-2

-22-

Appendix A (p2 of 4)



iii) United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)

http://www.unicef.org/

UNICEF is a United Nations Program headquartered in New York City that provides

long-term humanitarian and developmental assistance to children and mothers in

developing countries. It was created in 1946 and in 1954 became a permanent

member of the UN. Due to the nature of the work it carries, it has very detailed data

on children health. UNICEF‟s latest annual report is for 2010. This is an annual

publication and has data about 1-2 year old children.

iv) World Bank

http://www.worldbank.org/

The World Bank Group (WBG) is a family of five international organisations that

makes leveraged loans, generally to poor countries. It came into formal existence in

1945 and currently has 193 members. The „Data Bank ‟ section of the institution‟s

website is one of the richest sources of data available online with some of the data on

Pakistan available for as far back as 1960. The data can be freely accessed on the

website and can be downloaded as a Microsoft Excel sheet.

v) World Health Organisation (WHO)

http://www.who.int/

The World Health Organisation (WHO) is the directing and coordinating authority for

health within the United Nations system. Formed in 1948; it currently has 193 nations

as full and 2 as associate members. WHO maintains a rich database of all its member

countries, including Pakistan. As WHO is a large international organisation with

positive repute, its data is quite reliable because it has maintained its impartiality and

hence produces unbiased data.

http://www.unicef.org/http://www.worldbank.org/http://www.who.int/http://www.who.int/http://www.who.int/http://www.worldbank.org/http://www.unicef.org/


23/24

16-289-2013-2

-23-




Federal Government Sources

i) Ministry of Finance-Planning & Development Division

http://www.pc.gov.pk/

The Planning & Development Division is a part of the Ministry of Finance and is

tasked with rethinking the country‟s growth strategy with a view to developing policy

and reform ideas for achieving sustainable growth acceleration.

ii) Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS)

http://www.pbs.gov.pk/

The Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) is Pakistan's official statistical organisation.

It assists and encourages informed decision-making, research and discussion within

governments and the community, by providing a high quality, objective and

responsive national statistical service. PBS compiles statistics from many sources and

produces global updates; including the Statistical Yearbook, Pakistan Statistics

Handbook and yearbooks in specialised fields of statistics.

Provincial Government Sources

i) Department of Health-Government of Balochistan

http://www.balochistan.gov.pk/

The Department of Health works under the Government of Balochistan. The 'Minister

Health‟ is the one in-charge. „Secretary Health‟ is the Head of the Department while

„Director General Health Services‟ is the Head of the department. The Health

Secretariat is the apex management unit for the entire health department.

http://www.pc.gov.pk/http://www.finance.gov.pk/surveyhttp://www.finance.gov.pk/surveyhttp://www.balochistan.gov.pk/http://www.balochistan.gov.pk/http://www.balochistan.gov.pk/http://www.finance.gov.pk/surveyhttp://www.pc.gov.pk/


24/24

16-289-2013-2

24




ii) Department of Health-Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhawa

http://www.healthkp.gov.pk/

The „Department of Health‟ is part of the Provincial Government of Khyber

Pkhtunkhwa. Its mission is to protect the health of all citizens in the Khyber

Pakhtunkhwa Province.

iii) Department of Health-Government of Punjab

http://health.punjab.gov.pk/

The „Department of Health‟ is part of the Government of Punjab. Punjab being the

biggest province of Pakistan in terms of population, its Department of Health website

is the richest in terms of data availability.

iv) Department of Health-Government of Sindh

http://www.sindhhealth.gov.pk/portal/

„The Provincial Health Ministry‟ is a standard body for providing Medical Education

Training & Employment. Its overall vision is based on „Health for All‟. The new

Health Policy aims to implement this strategy of protecting people against hazardous

diseases, promoting public health, upgrading curative health facilities, enhancing

equity, efficiency, and effectiveness in the health sector in Sindh.
http://www.finance.gov.pk/surveyhttp://www.finance.gov.pk/surveyhttp://health.punjab.gov.pk/http://www.sindhhealth.gov.pk/portal/http://www.sindhhealth.gov.pk/portal/http://health.punjab.gov.pk/http://www.finance.gov.pk/survey

3. a Note on Secondary Data in Pakistan - HealthCare Indicators

Documents

Transcript of 3. a Note on Secondary Data in Pakistan - HealthCare Indicators