One year of Syed Mustafa Kamal’s leadership at the Ministry of National Health Services When Syed Mustafa Kamal assumed charge of the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination in early March 2025, Pakistan’s health sector confronted profound structural challenges: persistent polio in high-risk pockets, near-total dependence on imported vaccines and medical devices, a staggering shortage of nearly 900,000 nurses, fragmented oversight of medical education, and a curative system buckling under rapid population growth. Drawing on hisexperience as a decisive former Mayor of Karachi, Kamal infused the federal role with ambition, pragmatism, direct public communication, and a clear economic lens. Over the past 13 months, he advanced an integrated agenda that reframed health from reactive ‘sick care’ to proactive prevention, while embedding digital efficiency, regulatory modernisation, workforce development and economic self-reliance across pharmaceuticals,devicesandvaccines.
A national priority: the relentless push against polio Polio eradication topped Kamal’spriorities from the outset. On 16 March 2025, during an early visit to the Sindh Emergency Operations Centre in Karachi, he asserted that ‘achieving a polio-free Pakistan requires a modern, integrated strategy that addresses all challenges head-on.’ He personally oversaw multiple nationwide immunisation campaigns, including the fifth national drive of 2025 targeting over 45 million children and the first campaign of 2026 launched in February.
Progress under his watch included extended polio-free periods in several provinces, with Balochistan recording zero casesthroughout much of 2025. Kamal mobilised political, religious and community leaders to combat vaccine hesitancy and, in November 2025, handed over 118 mobile immunisation vans to provincial EPI teams, prioritising remote and mountainous areas.
This campaign was inseparable from the push for indigenous vaccine production. Kamal placed Pakistan on a ‘war-footing’ to achieve self-sufficiency by 2030, cautioning that donor support for 13 critical vaccines would end after 2031, imposing an annual cost of up to $1.2 billion. He pursued tech-nology transfer agreements with partners in Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and through a proposed OIC Vaccine Alliance serving 1.9 billion people.
High-level engagements advanced trilateral arrangements, with Pakistan reportedly nearing formal agreements that could initiate local production within three years and achieve full indigenous capacity including seed production thereafter. These steps frame d vaccines as both a public health necessity and a future export opportunity. This action has led to first everNational Policy for Indigenous Vaccine Production, approved by the Federal Cabinet.
Pharma exports and medical devices: from import dependence to global ambition In September 2025, Kamal unveiled an ambitious target: $30 billion in pharmaceutical exports within five years, at a time when exports had already surged f rom 34-35 per cent to around $457-500 million annually. He backed the goal with regulatory reforms at the DrugRegulatory Authority of Pakistan (Drap), which dramatically shortened medical device registration timelines (from 18-36 months to just 20 days) and approved over 500 devices. These efforts were lauded by the prime minister of Pakistan calling Drap ‘Reform Champion’ in December 2025.
Kamal urged local manufacturers to pursue joint ventures and technology transfers, telling industry gatherings that ending dependence on imported devices was vital for national health security. Indigenous vaccine production formed a core pillar of this vision, with efforts to reduce Pakistan’s over 90pc import reliance and position the country as a regional manuf acturing hub.
These economic ambitions gained international visibility at Health Asia 2025, the 22nd edition of Pakistan’s largest UFI-approved health exhibition and conference, held in Karachi in October 2025. Kamal inaugurated the event, which featured over 400 global and domestic healthcare brands. He addressed participants, inaugurated the Russian B2B Mission Conference on the sidelines, and served as chief guest at Pakistan’s First Health Awards organised by Health Asia. During his tour of the exhibition, he met international delegations and used the platform to promote investment opportunities, regulatory improvements, and the $30 billion export roadmap. The ministry’s dedicated pavilion showcased Pakistan’s commitment to innovation, technology and global collaboration in healthcare.
From sick care to true healthcare: prevention, universal health coverage and workforce strengthening Kamal consistently challenged Pakistan’s hospital-centric model. At multiple forums, including the Pakistan Growth Forum (PGF) 2026, he highlighted stark demographics: 6.19 million annual births (equivalent to population of New Zealand or Serbia) and a fertility rate of 3.6. ‘We cannot build hospitals fast enough to keep up with this magnanimous growth,’ he warned, ‘To save our health system, we must pivot decisively to prevention and the first step towards prevention is birth spacing.
This preventive orientation shaped the National Health and Population Policy (2026-35), which Kamal described as a ‘strategic compass’ linking health, demographic management, gender equality and economic resilience. Universal Health Coverage (UHC) was elevated as a national development priority.
The ministry organised high-level conferences and meetings on population, including a joint meeting of the Inter-Ministerial Health and PopulationCouncil and UHC Country Platform in December 2025 (chaire d by Kamal with provincial ministers, secretaries, development partners, UN agencies and academia). In January and April 2026, he chaired dedicated high-level meetings to review the population challenge, warning that Pakistan currently the fifth most populous nation could surpass Indonesia and become the world’s fourth most populous country within five years if trends continued. He repeatedly stressed that annual addition of approximately 6.2 million people was straining healthcare, education, infrastructure and employment, urging a reduction in the fertility rate from 3.6 to 2.0. Citing successful models from Bangladesh and Iran, Kamal called for coordinated public awareness, family planning and integrated policy action across stakeholders.
The Telemedicine Initiative translated prevention into practice. In December 2025, an MoU with Sehat Kahani digitised federal basic health units (BHUs). On 6 January 2026, Kamal inaugurated Pakistan’s first paperless, telemedicine-enabled BHU at Gokina in Islamabad featuring secure video consultations, electronic records and integrated pharmacies. He committed to rolling out such centres weekly, describing the programme as a ‘silent revolution’ that would ease pressure on tertiary hospitals and reach remote populations. Additional centres, including at BHU Tumair, followed, enabling consultations with doctors, including those based overseas.
Nursing Reforms addressed a critical workforce gap. In September 2025 and subsequent meetings, Kamal announced the full digitalisation and restructuring of the Pakistan Nursing Council (PNC) to international standards, ensuring transparency, merit and reduced human intervention. The goal was to produce a skilled nursing cadre capable of supporting community-based prevention, primary care and UHC.
Regulatory reform, digitalisation and hands-on governance Kamal’s governance style was execution-oriented. He chaired frequent high-level meetings on Drap reforms, hospital waste, clinical trials and inter-ministerial coordination, reminding officials that the ministry ‘directly impacts the lives of millions.
Digitalisation cut across initiatives.
The Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) transitioned to fully digital operations with minimal human interaction. The Medical and Dental College Admission Test (MDCAT) was reformed so that, starting from the 2026 cycle, the exam would be held shortly after FSc results (within days to a month), accompanied by a new MDCATQuestion Bank to promote fairness, reduce stress and curb the influence of coaching academies.
These reforms complemented nursing reforms, the telemedicine initiative, indigenous vaccine production and population policy efforts, creating a cohesive digital and regulatory ecosystem.
Leadership style: ambitious, collaborative, and unapologetically vocal Kamal blended Karachi-honed decisiveness with federal coordination. He engaged provinces while maintaining robust international ties addressing the World Health Assembly, collaborating with Gavi and WHO, and forging vaccine partnerships with Saudi Arabia, Indonesia and OIC nations. At Health Asia 2025 and population-focused meetings, he framed health as human-capital investment and national security.
He led by example, publicly administering the HPV vaccine to his daughter and using platforms to counter misinformation. Whether inaugurating telemedicine centres, chairing population strategy sessions, or promoting exports at Health Asia, his approach remained target-driven and transparent.
Challenges endured: residual polio transmission, workforce shortages, high out-of-pocket costs and demographic pressures. Yet Kamal maintained that Pakistan possessed the talent and potential the key was sustained implementation and political will.
A lasting footprint In just over a year, Syed Mustafa Kamal helped reposition the Ministry of National Health Services around prevention, digital innovation and self-reliance.
From polio campaigns and indigenous vaccine partnerships, to the $30 billion pharma export vision showcased at Health Asia 2025, telemedicine-enabled BHUs, comprehensive nursing reforms, PMDC digitalisation, MDCAT streamlining, and high-level conferences on population growth and the National Health and Population Policy, his initiatives integrated public health, medical education, regulation, demographics and economic strategy into a unified national agenda.
Whether polio is fully eradicate d, vaccine self-suf ficiency is achieve d by 2030, or pharma exports reach the ambitious target will depend on continued commitment. What remains clear is that Kamal’s tenure injected urgency, visibility and a preventive, forward-looking mindset into Pakistan’s health discourse at a pivotal demographic moment. The foundations laid regulatory modernisation, digital service delivery, workforce development, international collaboration and integrated population-health planning provide a practical roadmap for a healthier, more resilient and self-reliant Pakistanintheyearsahead.m