Key Takeaways
- Pakistan has appointed its seventh federal health secretary in 18 months.
- This frequent turnover is symptomatic of a larger problem: the state’s inability to provide continuity for senior officials.
- Such instability weakens the state’s capacity to engage coherently with its citizens and foreign governments.
Pakistan has faced a series of rapid changes in its federal health secretary position, with the latest appointment of Dr Fakhre Alam marking the seventh change in 18 months.
This frequent turnover is indicative of a broader issue within the country’s bureaucracy, where officials are often transferred or replaced before they can fully understand the institutions they are meant to run.
According to the Business Recorder, this problem extends beyond the health ministry, affecting other sectors as well, where officials are frequently moved before they can establish a comprehensive understanding of their roles.
The latest secretary, Dr Fakhre Alam, has been given a three-month term, with the possibility of being removed even earlier, highlighting the lack of job security and continuity in the position.
The rapid succession of officials, including Nadeem Mahboob, Nasiruddin Mashood, Waqarul Hasan, Hamed Yaqoob, Aslam Ghauri, and Captain Mahmood, each of whom did not remain in position for long, underscores the systemic issue.
This frequent change in leadership is detrimental to effective policymaking and consistent implementation, as it erodes the institutional memory needed to address complex problems.
Foreign diplomats have also privately expressed concerns about the issue of bureaucratic churn, noting the futility of developing an understanding with a particular secretary, only to find that the official has been transferred.
The health sector, in particular, provides a concerning example, as administrative weaknesses can have immediate and serious consequences. The tragic fire at PIMS, for instance, raises questions about the impact of frequent changes in health secretaries.
While the health minister does not have the authority to appoint officers in BPS-20 and above, a senior ministry official revealed that two secretaries were removed during high-level meetings not chaired by the minister.
This suggests that the issue is systemic and not solely the fault of the minister, but rather a broader problem within the bureaucracy.
