Ventilators manufactured in Pakistan by NRTC and Private companies are not fully functioning.
By Sayyed Shehzer Abbas
The Federal Minister for Science and Technology, Senator Shibli Faraz, recently visited National University of Science and Technology. While addressing to media he has proclaimed that Pakistan’s privately produced ventilators are failing and are only ready to perform 4 out of 16 functions.
He expressed that Pakistan needs oxygen and important stock for the Coronavirus pandemic and added that there are some problems that steel mills are facing with the activation of oxygen plant. But once this problem is resolved, it will be helpful for the country. He further said that the NRTC and other private firms are also manufacturing ventilators but currently they are not much helpful as these Pakistani manufactured ventilators are only able to perform 4 out of 16 functions.
According to stats shared by a health sector expert in 2020, the report mirrors that public and private areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) have around 150 ventilators. Balochistan has the least number of ventilators counting it to 49 working machines in the entire province. As indicated by the authority record, Punjab’s public hospitals have almost 1,300 ventilators. Most of these were acquired by the Shahbaz Sharif government in 2016-2018 when it had dispatched a venture for renovation of tehsil and district emergency wards. 250 ventilators have been allocated to government hospitals in Lahore. Moreover, Punjab Kidney and Liver Institute (PKLI) has received 100 new ventilators. The authority said that private hospitals outside Lahore in enormous urban areas like Gujranwala, Faisalabad, Multan, Rawalpindi, and Sialkot have nearly 150 ventilators in around 30 hospitals. But these figures are still very less as compared to the patients being diagnosed with Covid-19.
He additionally talked about the deteriorating Covid circumstance in India and said that Pakistan will do whatever it can for India’s battle against the infection. Furthermore, he expressed his support with the neighboring country as “This is a matter of humanity and we have full sympathy with India,”.
Minister Faraz also addressed the employment situation in the country and stated that the government’s job is not to provide jobs but to provide environments and opportunities for business.