Pima Convention urges state to take responsibility for quality education, healthcare
IV Report KARACHI: The two-day biennial convention of the Pakistan Islamic Medical Association (Pima) concluded on September 22, emphasising the need for reforms in the education and healthcare sectors. The state was urged to take more responsibility in ensuring quality services to the masses across the country. The convention's final day featured an address by Jamaat-e-Islami chief, Hafiz Naeem-ur Rehman, who highlighted the government's failure to provide basic health and education facilities despite spending Rs3,000 billion on these sectors. He noted that 77 years after independence, Pakistan still struggles to provide adequate healthcare and education. Mr Rehman criticised the commercialisation of education and healthcare, particularly in the private sector, making medical education inaccessible to the middle class. "Education is the state's primary responsibility, but it has become a trade," he said. "Only 10-12% of people can reach higher education....