• NCOC reports 201 casualties, over 5,000 new cases
• PAEC develops first indigenous ICU ventilator
• 1m doses likely to arrive from China today
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan witnessed a grim day on Wednesday when over 200 people fell victim to Covid-19, the highest-ever single-day death toll since the virus was first reported in the country in February last year.
The national positivity ratio, which has been hovering over 10 per cent for the last one week, stood at 10.77pc.
However, amid the prevailing grave situation when a record number of deaths and infections were being reported, Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) announced that it had manufactured the first intensive care unit (ICU) ventilator.
According to the data of the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), 201 people succumbed to the virus and 5,292 people got infected in a single day. Earlier, the highest casualty count was 157, which was reported a few days back on April 23.
As many as 664 patients were on ventilators across the country while the number of active cases was calculated at 88,207 as on April 28.
On the other hand, the NCOC sources said one million more doses of Covid-19 vaccine were likely to reach Pakistan from China on Thursday (today).
Expressing satisfaction over the ongoing vaccination process, Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar, in his tweet, said: “Daily vaccinations crossed 1 lakh in a day for the first time yesterday. Total vaccinations yesterday were 117,852. Total vaccinations so far now 2.1 million. Good to see more people registering. Please encourage all those 40 and above to register, if they have not done so far.”
According to a statement, the first indigenous ICU ventilator was developed by a team of diligent scientists and engineers who ensured that all essential quality standards were observed and regulatory requirements fulfilled. Doctors from the PAEC Hospital in Islamabad also provided their valuable input during the development stage.
After clearing internal reviews and testing, i-LIVE ventilator successfully passed independent reviews and testing conducted throughout its development lifecycle by an evaluation team of the Pakistan Innovation and Technology Centre and Pakistan Engineering Council.
Moreover, extensive clinical trials of i-LIVE were also carried out in Jinnah Hospital, Lahore, under the supervision of senior doctors, bio-medical engineers and medical researchers.
Talking to media, PAEC spokesperson Shahid Riaz Khan said the ventilator had been awarded formal approval, licensing and registration by Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (Drap). After the authority’s approval, i-LIVE would be manufactured and supplied by PAEC to meet the critical needs of hospitals, he added.
“This is a giant leap towards self-reliance in the designing and manufacturing of a life-saving equipment. This exercise opens new avenues for multi-disciplinary experts from various fields like software, hardware, mechanical, bio-medical engineering, medical and quality management to come together and serve the nation in distinct ways. The contribution is also aligned with Pakistan’s vision of knowledge-based economy and geo-economic strategy,” he said.
Meanwhile, PAEC Chairman Mohammad Naeem congratulated the scientists, engineers and doctors for the achievement and said after Drap’s green signal, massive production of PAEC-developed ICU ventilator would commence to meet the growing demand for this crucial equipment during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Health cards
The National Steering Committee on Health on Wednesday announced that health cards would be provided to all residents of Islamabad, Gilgit-Baltistan and Punjab.
Speaking to participants of the meeting, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Health Dr Faisal Sultan said 258,000 families in Islamabad would benefit, adding that the federal capital would be made a model city for its health facilities.
“Gilgit-Baltistan’s 328,000 families will also be able to avail free health treatment facility. In Punjab, distribution of health cards will be carried out in phases. In the next two months, they will be given to residents of seven districts – D.G. Khan, Rajanpur, Layyah, Sahiwal, Pakpattan, Okara and Muzaffargarh – while those of other districts would receive their cards by the end of the calendar year,” Dr Sultan said.
The SAPM said the programme was working in 96 districts across the country, targeting around 16 million families. Similarly, he said, the programme was underway in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Tharparkar (Sindh).
Ministry of National Health Services spokesperson Sajid Shah told Dawn that Sehat Sahulat Programme provided access to free-of-cost indoor healthcare services to enrolled families in panel hospitals.
“Through Qaumi Sehat Card, enrolled families can receive indoor healthcare services at any panel hospital. They can also access services by showing their CNIC cards. Each family can avail treatment in the range of Rs720,000 per year,” the spokesperson said.
“Besides, burial support costing Rs10,000 per death will also be provided if it occurs in any empanelled hospital. All drugs, investigations and procedures are covered in case of admission and medicines provided to each discharged patient,” he added.
Mr Shah said a patient could also avail one free follow-up after getting discharged. “Because of the nationwide portability of the benefit package, an enrolled family member can access services in any of the more than 450 empanelled hospitals, including private-sector hospitals. Till date over 1.6 million beneficiaries have visited different empanelled hospitals to seek free-of-cost healthcare services,” he added.
Published in Dawn, April 29th, 2021
