WHO Pakistan and the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination marked World Health Day in Islamabad on 6 April 2026 with a clear message that medical science has protected and saved millions of lives across the country over the past eight decades. The event at the WHO Pakistan country office brought together Secretary Health Muhammad Aslam Ghauri, students and partner organisations to highlight local progress driven by science and international cooperation.
Secretary Health Muhammad Aslam Ghauri said that trusting and following medical science is not an option for Pakistan, and recalled that 78 years ago the country was among the founding member states that endorsed the World Health Organization. He stressed that scientific advances now make it possible to treat and prevent many conditions that once had no cure, and that Pakistan remains fully committed to global health collaboration.
Delegates noted major milestones achieved through medical science, including widespread childhood vaccination against preventable diseases, the historic eradication of smallpox, and strengthened capacity to prevent and treat tuberculosis, polio, cancer, diabetes, hepatitis C and malaria, as well as to manage severe acute malnutrition in children.
WHO Representative in Pakistan Dr Luo Dapeng underlined the impact of vaccines and treatments with concrete figures. Globally vaccines have saved over 150 million lives in the last 50 years, and in Pakistan immunisation programmes reach around 7 million children and 5.5 million women of childbearing age each year. Thanks to polio vaccination efforts, more than 20 million people remain able to walk today who would otherwise have been paralysed, and Pakistan has reduced polio cases by 99.8 percent over the past 30 years.
Dr Luo also highlighted tuberculosis progress and treatment impact, noting that medical science has helped save more than 83 million lives worldwide in the past 25 years and that Pakistan provided life-saving TB treatment to over 5 million people in the last decade. He added that WHO and partners support treatment for about 70,000 children with severe acute malnutrition and medical complications each year.
Secretary Ghauri emphasised the need to sustain gains through the One Health approach, balancing the health of people, animals and ecosystems based on scientific evidence of our interconnectedness. Both the ministry and WHO reaffirmed their eight-decade partnership and invited young people to champion medical science as Pakistan seeks to build a healthier future for all.
