Author: Muhammad Jawad Shahid

University: FAST NUCES Lahore

Roll Number: 21L-5787

Implementation of Aam Aadmi Party’s Health Systems in

Pakistan, a considerable possibility?

Overview
This article lays out investigation on the work done by the Aam Aadmi Party of
India regarding health and medical facilities provided to the people, especially in
Delhi and Punjab. Specifically, it focuses on the idea of “Mohalla Clinics” and the
possibility of applying this idea in Pakistan.
Introduction & Background
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is a political party belonging to India, which was formed
in November 2012 by Arvind Kejriwal and his supporters. The translation of Aam
Aadmi Party in English is “Common Man Party”. The party was founded after the
2011 Indian anti-corruption movement. Two activists in this movement had a
disagreement. One was Anna Hazare, and the other was Arvind Kejriwal. Anna
Hazare rejected the idea of politics into the movement and suggested that the
movement should remain politically unaligned, but Arvind Kejriwal said that the
only way forward for the movement is to work towards a change in government.
Now, it is the ruling party of two governments of India: Delhi, which is the capital
city of India, and the state of Punjab.
Ideology
The name of the party is based on the phrase “Aam Aadmi”, which translated to
“Common Man”. The idea was that Arvind Kejriwal was to represent the interests
of the common man. When it was formed, Aam Aadmi Party mentioned that the
promise of equality and justice, which is a part of the Consititution of India, has
not been fulfilled.
Health Reforms
To provide consultations, medicine, and tests free of cost to patients, the Aam
Aadmi Party launched its health improvement mission by setting up Mohalla
Clinics, Polyclinics, and Government Hospitals. They planned on setting up 1,000
of these by the end of 2017, and by February 2017, 110 of these clinics were
already functional and had treated over 800,000 patients in five months. This
program was commended by the former UN General Secretary Kofi Annan, the
former Prime Minister of Norway and Director-General of the World Health
Organization (WHO), Gro Harlem Brundtland, as an excellent implementation to
improve the universal healthcare system. Therefore, it can be seen how impressive
and intellectual this program was.
Mohalla Clinics
The name given to these institutions is Aam Aadmi Mohalla Clinics (AAMC) but
they are mostly known as Mohalla Clinics. They are the primary health centres that
reside in the union territory of Delhi in India. They offer a basic package of
essential health needs and services such as medicines, diagnostics, and
consultation. The key point to note is that all of this is provided free of cost. These
clinics serve as the first point of contact for the population and offer their services
timely. Due to them, the load on the secondary and tertiary health facilities in the
state has been greatly reduced.
These Mohalla Clinics were first set up by the Aam Aadmi Party in government in
2015. By 2020, 450 clinics have been set up across the city, which have served its
population of over 16.24 million residents. The idea behind the program is to
provide free health services which help reduce the financial burden especially on
low-income households. By establishing a clinic in every “Mohalla”, which in
Hindi means neighborhood or community, they are essentially reducing travel
costs and preventing loss of wages.
They provide 109 essential medicines for free, as well as 212 diagnostic tests for
free.
How can this system be implemented in Pakistan?
Pakistan, unfortunately, is a third world country. Most of its population lives below
the poverty line. Due to this, its population constantly faces a financial crisis.
Health is a sector which is highly inflated around the world especially in Pakistan.
Health related issues pose severe problems to families who are not doing well
financially. The “Mohalla Clinic” initiative by Aam Aadmi Party can be
highlighted here. As it provides several health facilities completely free, which
would usually range from expensive to less expensive, this could benefit the
population greatly.
Pakistan has sufficient funds to implement this. If we look at some of the projects
carried out in Pakistan such as the Orange Line Train Project, for example, the
money spent on this project is immense and it is wasted. Currently, Pakistan has no
need for such a system of transportation. The 27-kilometre metro train is expected
to cost 1.65 billion US dollars. Out of this, 800 million US dollars have come from
the Federal Government of Pakistan, while the rest is financed through soft loans
by the government of China. One can only think of the possible outcomes, if this
money was invested into the health sector instead.
Even during the recent coronavirus outbreak, there was shortage of viable health
facilities for patients. Hospitals were out of beds, and there were not enough
doctors. Moreover, the condition of government hospitals and facilities was
disgusting. Instead of preventing sickness and diseases, it provoked them. Public
transportation had to be shut down. So, if a new pandemic comes to occur, the
Orange Line Train Project will be rendered completely useless. The only thing that
will matter is an initiative similar to the work done by Aam Aadmi Party. Other
than the Orange Line Project, the Metro project is also a similar waste of capital.
Notably, money is not just wasted on the project as it is not a necessity and would
be used inefficiently, but also because maintaining these train systems also requires
massive funding. Overall, pursuing these projects rather than necessary and
beneficial healthcare projects is like slowly driving into a wall.
Summary & Conclusion
To summarize, Aam Aadmi Party is a political party which was formed in
November 2012 with the objective of representing and responding to the needs of
the common man. Aam Aadmi Party has established hundreds of “Mohalla
Clinics” around the areas of Delhi, which continues to provide medicines,
diagnostics, and surgeries, free of cost to the people. Moreover, the areas are
densely populated with these clinics, which allow the people to visit at ease. These
clinics could be implemented in Pakistan to achieve similar results. This would
improve quality of life and health, and is an excellent reform for the future.