Balochistan rarely reaches an international stage for the right reasons. Too often, the province enters the outside world’s conversation through insurgency, deprivation, political grievance or another reminder of the distance between Quetta and Islamabad. That is why its appearance at the DHIS2 Asia-Pacific Conference in Colombo deserves attention. Not because another minister travelled abroad, but because Balochistan was being discussed for something Pakistan’s least-developed province is rarely associated with: administrative innovation.

Health Minister Bakht Muhammad Kakar attended the opening ceremony as Guest of Honour, representing Pakistan before participants from 26 countries. The gathering brought together governments, health specialists, researchers and development partners to discuss digital health systems, data management, evidence-based policymaking and the future of healthcare delivery.

More significant than the ceremony was the story Balochistan took to Colombo.

Pakistan is littered with donor-supported projects that weaken once consultants, grants and foreign partners leave.

Pakistan is littered with donor-supported projects that weaken once consultants, grants and foreign partners leave.

Kakar’s argument was straightforward: health data should not merely be collected for files in government offices; it should guide decisions. Digital technology, if properly used, can tell administrators which facilities are functioning, where reporting has stopped, where medicines are running short and where resources need to move. In other words, technology can shorten the distance between a problem........

© Daily Times