Medical equipment worth Rs150m reach Sialkot

Supplies to cope with Covid-19 include 5,000 PCR kits, 20 ventilators, 25 oximeters

SIALKOT:

Covid-related medical equipment worth Rs150 million arrived in Sialkot on Thursday, boosting the city's capacity to effectively cope with the coronavirus pandemic.

The medical supplies including 5,000 PCR testing kits, 20 Intensive Care Unit ventilators, 25 Oximeters, a biosafety cabinet and other critical instruments were provided by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) to Govt Khawaja Muhammad Safdar Medical College on the request of its principal.

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Youth Affairs Muhammad Usman Dar met NDMA Chairman Lt Gen Muhammad Afzal and thanked him for providing medical assistance to the people of Sialkot in such difficult times, said a press release issued by the SAPM's Office.

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The SAPM said the medical equipment, which was transferred by the NDMA logistics team in a few hours, would play a big role in the fight against the pandemic in Sialkot. “Unfortunately, the health sector in Sialkot was not given due attention by the past regimes,” he said.

"Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Sialkot leader Khawaja Asif could not give a single ventilator to the Allama Iqbal Teaching Hospital in the past 30 years," he said.

Dar maintained that the government was committed to improving the health infrastructure of the city.

“Hospitals in Sialkot have been given 125 high-flow oxygen beds,” he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 3^rd, 2020.