Assembly told of full self-funding by 2030
Pakistan health minister Syed Mustafa Kamal told the National Assembly that Pakistan will completely phase out foreign financial assistance for vaccine procurement by 2030. Speaking during Question Hour on Friday, he said the federal and provincial governments now meet 51 percent of the cost, while international partners meet 49 percent, and that by 2030 the country would bear 100 percent of the bill.
That full cost, he said, is estimated at around $1.2 billion a year. Pakistan provides vaccines for 13 preventable diseases, and all of those vaccines are currently imported.
Domestic production and the health budget share
The Pakistan health minister said the government has already begun work on self-reliance in local vaccine manufacturing, with the aim of producing all 13 vaccines at home and saving foreign exchange. He also clarified that foreign assistance made up less than 3 percent of Pakistan’s overall health sector spending.
On related programmes, he said the Global Fund supports HIV, malaria and tuberculosis elimination work, but those funds are not given directly to the government. Instead, he said, they are implemented through two private NGOs in Pakistan.
Barcode drive against fake medicines
Alongside the vaccine funding outlook, the Pakistan health minister told the house that a barcode system meant to curb fake medicines will be enforced across the country by the end of November. The statement places a near-term enforcement deadline next to the longer 2030 target for ending foreign support for vaccine purchases.
Officials did not set out in Friday’s exchange a year-by-year calendar for shifting from the current 51–49 cost split to full national financing. What was stated is the end point: zero foreign financial assistance for vaccine procurement by 2030, with domestic production work already under way.
Aasan alfaaz mein
Pakistan health minister Mustafa Kamal ne National Assembly mein kaha ke 2030 tak vaccine kharidne ke liye bahar se paise nahi aayenge. Ab sarkar 51 percent aur international partners 49 percent kharcha uthate hain; 2030 tak pura kharcha, lagbhag $1.2 billion saalana, Pakistan uthayega. Tamaam 13 vaccines ab bahar se aati hain, lekin ghar mein banane ka kaam shuru ho chuka hai. Fake dawaon ke khilaf barcode system November ke akhir tak mulk bhar mein lagaya jayega.
