‘Pandemic has opened new dimensions of thinking’

Prof Choudhry says science and technology have delivered beyond our expectations

ISLAMABAD:

Speakers at an International Seminar on “Challenges for Healthcare in Pandemics” acknowledged the contribution of the science and technology sector for the betterment of humanity during the challenging situation of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The seminar was organised by COMSTECH and the IEEE Educational Activities.

“The year 2020 is significant in every definition of the word. We have seen over three million deaths, over 300 million infections and over $15 trillion loss to economies all over the world caused by this pandemic”, COMSTECH Coordinator-General Professor Dr M. Iqbal Choudhary said.

Choudhry quoted Melinda Gates as saying that any calamity of this magnitude can magnify the calamities that already exist. “The difference between the haves and have nots has increased; the systemic crisis has increased.”

He said what science has done in the last one year is truly remarkable. “Science and technology have exceeded global expectations.”

Dr Choudhary mentioned that when everything else had failed in global economic cooperation, science and technology delivered beyond our expectations.

“We have seen development of diagnostics and vaccines during the prevailing global health crisis. Technology has fulfilled all the promises which it has made to humanity at large.”

However, he added, “this is not the last pandemic, we need to prepare and be resilient for the next health challenges”.

The pandemic has opened new dimensions of thinking in every walk of life, especially our healthcare industry which now requires new ways of working, new methods of communication, finding new solutions to problems and try to innovate solutions, said Dr Choudhary

Digital health in the current era is more than just online virtual visits and distant patient monitoring, he said.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr Muhammad Sadiq Ali Khan said the Covid -19 pandemic primarily redesigned the health care system and highlighted the importance of gap that can be problematic in the future.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 4^th, 2021.