There are lessons to be learned from both their successes and their failures.
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With a gigantic population (fifth globally), Pakistan has signs of poor fitness and a weak fitness infrastructure. Despite the grim backdrop, several headaches, and lack of preparedness for fitness emergencies, Pakistan is one of the countries that has brought Covid-19 under control. 19 effectively. In November 2020, WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros included Pakistan in a list of seven countries whose preparedness and reaction presented lessons to the rest of the world on how to deal with a global pandemic. In January 2022, Pakistan crowned The Economist. Normality Index.
Compared to other countries with gigantic populations, morbidity and mortality due to the Covid-19 pandemic were low in Pakistan. We haven’t resorted to widespread lockdowns for a long time, and despite the limited capacity of the fitness system, we’ve done well. What went right?
Above all, Pakistan acted quickly. He took the first signs of a global pandemic seriously. I created a specialized advisory organization and chaired its daily early morning meetings at the National Institutes of Health. We had our first meeting on January 15, 2020, even though the first case in Pakistan proved it on February 26, 2020. When we started the checkpoint at the airport, many eyebrows were raised, as if we were acting unnecessarily.
In the first 40 days, we implemented strict screening systems at airports. As the number of cases began to rise, in late March 2020, the National Command and Operations Center, a hybrid civilian-military structure, was established following an assembly of the National Security Committee. This proved to be the ultimate vital resolution to control the outbreak, as it led to a coherent, coherent and effective national response. The NCOC’s key strengths were its authority, convening power, coordination, and technique for conducting data-driven operations. , consensus-based decision-making, effective implementation, and 24/7 monitoring. Health care is primarily the duty of provincial governments, however, strong central coordination was needed in the face of a global pandemic. The NCOC also fulfilled this service and orchestrated a de facto national response.
After the status quo of the NCOC, Pakistan has taken a step forward by strengthening the capacity of the fitness formula and must-have public fitness functions. The political vision was clear: “don’t panic, leave no stone unturned to prevent the spread of the disease, but don’t succumb to pressure from elites to impose a lockdown. Implemented. At the same time, money has been provided to small and deficient businesses. There was a whole-of-society effort to help those in need. All stakeholders, from devoted academics, the personal fitness industry, the business network, and educational establishments. A whole-of-government technique was followed and there was unprecedented cross-sector collaboration.
There were mandatory checks at all ports of entry. Initially, the country had only 4 laboratories capable of performing PCR tests to detect the SARS-Cov-2 virus. The National Institute of Health has played a key role in expanding this number to 173 and the daily national capacity exceeds 100,000 checks. Surveillance data were collected in the Polio Information Management System. The National Disaster Management Authority has been working hard to procure and supply private protective gear and necessary appliances, adding monitoring kits, oxygen and ventilators.
During the first wave (in 2020), it was known that the capacity of intensive care hospitals was limited. Private sector hospitals were incorporated into the circuit and in a short time 7,000 beds were added for patients requiring oxygen and intensive care. Using generation has also helped. Examples include physical home care for remote patients through telemedicine, using telecommunications know-how for touch tracking, and the status quo of a 24/7 hotline. Telemedicine has a component of daily physical care, adding intellectual physical care.
Pakistan has also surpassed the maximum number of countries in vaccination against SARS-Cov-2. As of September 2022, 90% of the eligible population had been vaccinated. This is a remarkable achievement given that Pakistan is not a vaccine-producing country. The first vaccine, a Chinese product, was manufactured in the country. At a later stage, the vaccine was also produced through an NIH fill-and-finish process. The source of vaccines, through Global Access to Covid-19 Vaccines, bilaterally and in It has also been useful to have a physically powerful national Covid vaccination data control system, connected to the national database and registration authority.
Keeping others informed about the evolution of the pandemic and raising awareness of appropriate protective measures is also part of Pakistan’s reaction to Covid-19. The Federal Ministry of the National Health Service, Regulation and Coordination has produced more than a hundred Covid-related guidance documents. and made them available on its website. In addition to a strong and sustained media campaign, a state-of-the-art technique was adopted by communicating key messages in the form of a ringtone. These messages were listened to daily by around 150 million cell phone users.
One of the first difficult situations faced by Pakistani students in China. The families of some students piled up and accused the government of being insensitive to their children’s plight, but I stood my ground and made up my mind not to bring them back immediately. The main challenge was that of pilgrims returning from Iran, who had a high infection rate. I flew to the Taftan border crossing in a military helicopter and came up with a moderate quarantine plan.
Against all odds, Pakistan was able to generate a robust, comprehensive and effective national response to the pandemic. There have been many lessons. The real challenge is a systematic review and strengthening of the relevant institutions. There have already been some improvements. For example, the NIH has witnessed a major, long-due reorganisation and establishment of Centres for Disease Control. Still, there are many complications to overcome and implementation of some of the reforms has been slow. There are many gaps, including better emergency preparation; vaccine production; disease surveillance system; and human resource development in public health, especially in field epidemiology; and building health system capacity to absorb a sudden surge in patients requiring critical care.