According to the Lancet study, Pakistan ranks 154th among 195 countries in terms of accessibility and quality of healthcare, far behind its South Asian counterparts India, Bangladesh, and Sri-Lanka.

The study carried out by renowned journal The Lancet says that Pakistan has improved in health care access and quality since 1990.

Pakistan’s Health Access Quality (HAQ) index increased from 26.8 in 1990 to 37.6 in 2016. But despite these improvements, it still lagged behind India, which ranks 145th, China (48), Sri Lanka (71), Bangladesh (133) and Bhutan (134).

According to the report, Pakistan performed badly in handling tuberculosis, diarrhoeal diseases, neonatal diseases, uterine cancer, and leukemia, among others.

The Lancet study used an index to measure the quality and accessibility of healthcare, based on 32 causes of death that are preventable with effective medical care.

The five countries with the highest levels of healthcare access and quality (in 2016) were Iceland (97.1 points), Norway (96.6), the Netherlands (96.1), Luxembourg (96.0), and Finland and Australia (each with 95.9).

The countries with the lowest scores were the Central African Republic (18.6), Somalia (19.0), Guinea-Bissau (23.4), Chad (25.4), and Afghanistan (25.9).