Naeemur Rehman Khattak.
Budgetary imbalances in the health care system of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: 1990-2007.
Pak J Med Res Jan ;49(3):80-4.

Background: In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, budgetary allocation is not according to need based. In budgetary allocation, criterion of population, area, health status and poverty in the particular district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are not followed. Health authorities do not have a comprehensive plan for identifying and tackling imbalances in health sector. Objectives: This study was conducted to analyze the budgetary imbalances among various districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and to highlight the priorities like population size, poverty and health status of the population for rational budget allocation. Materials and Methods: Secondary data from 1990 to 2007 for 24 districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were taken from Budget Documents, Finance Department, Govt. of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Development Budget (Annual Development Plans) Health Sector (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Bureau of Statistics, govt of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (2006-07). Statistical packages SPSS and Minitab were used for the analysis of the data. Results: The findings revealed that while making budgetary allocations the important component like areas of the districts, population size, poverty status and health status were not considered. The allocation of Rs. 13.777 million made for district Tank in 2006-07 was less as compared to other districts of the province although the district has more area as compared to some other districts. In contrast Rs. 23.549 were allocated to district Bannu which has a population of 863,000, despite the fact that Bannu has small area as compared to some other districts. District Charsadda received Rs. 114.65 million which was not enough due to its huge population. District Lakki, district Shangla, Swat, Bunair and Chitral are backward in terms of basic health facilities, but the budget allocated was not according to the requirement. Conclusions: It is suggested that 60% of the total budget should be allocated on the basis of population, 20% on the basis of area, 10% on the basis of health status and 10% on the basis of poverty.

PakMediNet -Pakistan's largest Database of Pakistani Medical Journals - http://www.pakmedinet.com