Historically, the Department of Health (DoH), Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) has played a limited role in priority setting and policy development, mostly concerning service provision through public health facilities. Following the passage of the Empowerment and Self Government Ordinance 2009 (ESGO), the province gained the power to legislate in the health sector as more control was ceded to its Legislative Council. After the 18th Constitutional Amendment and the 7th National Finance Award 2010 (NFC), pressure on the province to evolve local mechanisms and capacity to handle management and service delivery became more acute. Patchy and sporadic data coverage and major issues in data validity and reliability hamper decision-making and management. Before the passage of the ESGO, Gilgit-Baltistan relied solely on federal funding; disbursements which were often less than allocations. This financial weakness is a major concern for the province to contend with in its Strategy implementation process.
