RESUMO
Background: Health is a key component of human development and economic growth of a country in addition to education and gross domestic product
Objectives: To determine the health outcomes in four human development index countries and to make a comparison of these with the heath indicators of Pakistan
Materials and Methods: The data used in the current study was a secondary data obtained from United Nations Development Report [UNDP] published in 2015 including several variables representing health outcomes of a country
Results: Pakistan spent 2.8% of its gross domestic product in public health programs which is lower than the average amount spent by low, medium, high and very high human development index countries. Number of medical doctors available per 10,000 people in Pakistan is 8.3 which is higher than the average number in low human development index [1.3], almost similar with the medium human development index [8.2] but much lower than the high [18.7] and very high [28.7] human development index countries. All the health outcome variables were significantly [p< 0.01] different across the four types of human development index groups
Conclusion: Low life expectancy, high mortality ratios, low vaccinations, child malnutrition, less number of physicians and a very low percentage of gross domestic product spent on health are the major barriers in human development of the country