Lahore: Federal Minister for Climate Change and Environmental Coordination Dr. Musadik Masood Malik has said that provision of basic healthcare and education was a fundamental priority of the government, stressing that social justice could only be achieved through equal access to essential services and accountability for negligence in public institutions.
Addressing the Health and Education Summit Pakistan (HESP) 2026 at Expo Centre here on Saturday, he said basic education was the right of every child and the state had a responsibility to provide quality education and healthcare to all citizens without discrimination.
Dr. Musadik Malik said the government, under the vision of Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, was utilizing all available resources to improve health and education facilities. While basic facilities were available in public schools and hospitals, he said, their quality and service delivery needed further improvement. He said social justice required equal access to education, healthcare and other essential services, adding that no child should be deprived of these basic rights merely because of financial constraints.
The minister said the state’s primary responsibility was to ensure a dignified life for ordinary citizens. For a poor family, he added, the most important concerns were whether it could provide quality education to its children and ensure dignified healthcare for its parents and elders, rather than economic indicators such as GDP growth, inflation or the fiscal deficit.
He stressed the need to strengthen service delivery in public institutions, saying that if children lost their lives because of inadequate arrangements at a hospital or other institution, it raised serious questions about the effectiveness of the system.
Referring to the PIMS incident, he said any negligence or lapse at any level must be investigated and those responsible held accountable. He emphasized that negligence in providing safe and quality healthcare could not be tolerated.
Dr. Musadik Malik said the world was undergoing a major revolution in health sciences, which was being driven not only by advances in medical sciences but also by developments in nanotechnology, biotechnology, cognitive sciences and information technology. The convergence of these fields, he added, was already contributing to major breakthroughs in healthcare.
He said health and education could not be viewed in isolation from modern technologies, adding that sustainable progress in both sectors would require effective use and integration of emerging technologies.
The minister also highlighted the close link between health, education and environmental protection. He said a clean, safe and healthy environment was essential for improving public health, and environmental degradation and pollution could undermine efforts to achieve better health outcomes.
He said the government was working to integrate education, healthcare and environmental priorities to improve the overall quality of life of citizens. A healthy society, he added, could only be built when children had access to basic education, citizens received quality healthcare and every individual had a clean and safe environment.
Dr. Musadik Malik stressed that achieving social justice required reducing disparities and ensuring equal opportunities for every citizen. He called for continued cooperation among government institutions, experts, the private sector, civil society and other stakeholders to improve public service delivery and achieve these objectives.
