ISLAMABAD: A special meeting of the Concept Clearance Committee/Central Development Working Party was convened in the federal capital on Monday to initiate precautionary measures and approve the concept paper of ‘Pakistan National Emergency Preparedness and Response Plan for COVID-19’.
Deputy Chairman Planning Commission Dr Muhammad Jehanzeb Khan chaired the meeting that was attended by Secretary Planning Zafar Hasan and senior officials from the ministries of the Planning and Economic Affairs Division also attended the meeting.
The project was presented by the Chief Health who informed the meeting participants that the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination had come up with a proposal to enhance the country’s capacity for preparedness and response to COVID-19 pandemic.
The project aims to establish functional coordination mechanism at the national and provincial levels for preparedness and response to the coronavirus pandemic.
The federal government is making emergency preparations to identify and diagnose primary cases, and effectively respond to minimise impact of COVID-19 through surveillance strengthening, case management, infection prevention and control, risk communication and coordination.
Khan said strong surveillance would help prevent the outbreak, adding Pakistan already has a law named “Emergency Diseases Control Act” that supports immediate measures against outbreak of any diseases.
He said the federal government would fully support the provincial governments to control the pandemic.
EAD Secretary Dr Syed Pervaiz Abbas informed the meeting that though loan financing to counter the virus is made available by the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, grant financing could also be explored from other multilateral organizations.
Meanwhile, the CDWP forum approved the concept clearance proposal
