WHO hands over testing equipment to NDMA

Islamabad: The Representative of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Pakistan Dr. Palitha Mahipala handed over Point of Care Test (PCOT) and PCR kits to Chairman of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) Lt. Gen. Muhammad Afzal at a ceremony held at the WHO Country Office here on Monday. The equipment will enhance the laboratory testing capacity for COVID-19 in Pakistan.

Dr. Palitha handed over 15 units of POCKIT central nucleic acid analyzer, 15,000 pieces of specimen collection and transport swab with sample storage solution, and 1,000 machines of SARS-CoV2 tests which can conduct 15,000 tests. He was flanked by the Executive Director of the National Institute of Health Dr. Aamer Ikram, and WHO focal person for labs Dr. Uzma Bashir.

Addressing the gathering, Dr. Palitha said, WHO has been working hand-in-hand with the Government of Pakistan, NDMA, NIH, and the federal and provincial health authorities to see how best it can support the country’s response to COVID-19. “We observed that when the response was elevated to NDMA, many things started happening more quickly,” he remarked, appreciating the quality, comprehensiveness, and robustness of the response.

Both the NDMA chairman and the ED of NIH thanked WHO for providing technical support and state-of-the-art equipment to Pakistan. Lt. Gen. Muhammad Afzal added that there is no dearth of PPEs for frontline doctors and nurses. “We are now in a position to supply 100,000 PPEs to all hospitals on a weekly basis. Today, we have the capacity to conduct 52,000 tests daily, although we are using a small fraction of it,” he claimed.