Before you start

Private health insurance, arranged before arrival where possible
Passport and visa for hospital registration
Vaccination records, including for children entering school
An employer's group scheme, where one exists

Step-by-step

1
Arrange insurance before you land
Local Pakistani policies exist and are inexpensive, but international cover buys evacuation and treatment abroad, which is the reason to have it. Pre-existing conditions are handled far more generously at the point of first purchase than after a claim history, so buy before you need it.
OnlineWho: YouBefore arrival
2
Register at Aga Khan University Hospital
AKUH in Stadium Road is Pakistan's leading tertiary hospital and internationally accredited. Registering as a patient before you need to is a twenty-minute administrative task that saves an hour when it matters. Its laboratory network has collection points across the city.
In personWho: YouMonth 1
3
Identify a second hospital nearer your home
Karachi is large and traffic is unpredictable. Whatever your primary hospital, know which credible facility is fifteen minutes from your house — South City, Liaquat National, Ziauddin and the Aga Khan secondary centres are the names people use. In an emergency, proximity beats reputation.
In personWho: You
4
Know the ambulance landscape
The Sindh Emergency Rescue Service operates on 1122 across the province including Karachi, providing ambulance, fire and rescue. The Edhi Foundation's charitable ambulance network on 115 is often the fastest thing on a Karachi road, and Chhipa on 1020 is the other large charitable service. Programme all three.
In personWho: You
5
Sort routine dental and optical privately and cheaply
Private dentistry and optometry in Karachi are good and cost a fraction of European or Gulf prices, which is why many residents pay out of pocket rather than through insurance. It is one of the genuine financial upsides of living here.
In personWho: You
6
Take air quality and water seriously as health inputs
Karachi's air is better than Lahore's but not good, and waterborne illness is a real risk. Filtered or bottled drinking water is standard practice in every household including Pakistani ones. Typhoid vaccination is worth discussing with a doctor before arrival.
In personWho: You

Documents you’ll need

Insurance policy documents and card
Passport and visa
Vaccination records
Prior medical records for any ongoing condition
Employer group scheme details, if applicable

Things most newcomers don’t know

The Sehat Sahulat card is not a route for foreign residents, and its coverage has never been national.

Pakistan's health card programme is a provincially implemented scheme for Pakistani citizens, rolled out furthest in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab and only partially in Sindh. Foreign nationals do not qualify for the public scheme at all. Guides that describe Pakistan as having universal health coverage are describing an ambition rather than an entitlement, and certainly not one available to you.

Source: Sehat Sahulat Programme

Aga Khan University Hospital is a genuine reason Karachi is easier than most of Pakistan medically.

AKUH is internationally accredited, runs a tertiary referral service and a nationwide laboratory network, and is the hospital Pakistani doctors send their own families to. Its presence changes the risk calculus of living here in a way that is hard to overstate — the equivalent decision in a smaller Pakistani city usually involves flying somewhere. It is not cheap by local standards; it is inexpensive by any international one.

Source: Aga Khan University Hospital

Edhi's charitable ambulances are frequently faster than anything else on the road.

The Edhi Foundation runs the largest volunteer ambulance network in the country on 115, free of charge and without regard to who you are. In Karachi's traffic, an Edhi ambulance with local knowledge often arrives before a hospital's own. The Sindh Emergency Rescue Service on 1122 is the government service and now covers all thirty Sindh districts, and Chhipa on 1020 is the other major charitable operator. Having all three in your phone is not redundancy — it is how the city actually works.

Source: Edhi Foundation; Sindh Emergency Rescue Service

Buy insurance before arrival, because pre-existing conditions are priced at purchase.

Expatriate policies underwrite at the point of sale. Arriving uninsured, developing a condition, and then shopping for cover is the sequence that produces exclusions. It is also worth checking whether your policy covers medical evacuation — for a small number of serious conditions the realistic treatment plan involves Dubai, Bangkok or Europe, and evacuation cover is what makes that a plan rather than a crisis.

Source: community-reported

Common mistakes to avoid

Assuming a government health card scheme covers you — it does not cover foreign nationals.
Arriving uninsured and then trying to buy cover with a condition already declared.
Knowing only one hospital, on the far side of the city from where you live.
Not having Edhi 115 and Rescue 1122 saved before you need them.
Drinking unfiltered tap water on the assumption that a good neighbourhood means a good supply.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.