UK pledges support to govt’s multi-sectoral preparedness, response plan

Islamabad : The government launched an initial $595 million coordinated multi-sectoral Preparedness and Response Plan (PPRP) virtually on Thursday to combat COVID-19 in a bid to suppress and mitigate the spread of coronavirus. The launch was chaired by the Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi.

In the event, the government launched a virtual appeal to international donors, including International Financial Institution (IFI) and friendly countries, to fund and participate in combating the immediate and long-term impacts of the COVID-19 crisis on health sector.

The head of UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) in Pakistan, Annabel Gerry issued the following statement at the virtual event;

“On behalf of the United Kingdom, I am honoured to be a part of this very important initiative, the launch of the Pakistan Preparedness and Response Plan for COVID-19.

There has never been a more important time to deliver our UK aid commitment and I’m proud that the UK has so far pledged £744 million of UK aid globally to help end this pandemic as quickly as possible.

In Pakistan, the UK has already committed £2.67 million to the World Health Organisation to support health assistance, including for the most vulnerable communities. We will work in partnership with the government of Pakistan to provide medical assistance to the seriously ill; building stronger systems to detect the virus; and supporting communities to have the right information to protect themselves and others.

The UK is providing further support to the PPRP through Public Health, England, assisting the National Institute of Health in the very important work on data and surveillance systems, laboratory strengthening, and public health planning.

We are also acutely aware of the potential long-term impacts of the pandemic in Pakistan. So we strongly welcome inclusion of the wider impacts on the health system in the PPRP. Lessons from the UK’s response to Ebola showed that more people died due to these wider impacts on the health system than those who died directly affected by the disease. So, the UK is also repurposing its existing health programming to support Pakistan.

I pledge to support this excellent and timely initiative in every way that I can. The UK stands united with Pakistan in these testing times and ready to do our part in combating the immediate and long-term impacts of COVID-19 crisis.

The UK will continue to work in partnership to lead the international response by using the best of British expertise, science businesses, NGOs and influence to stop the spread of the global coronavirus outbreak, find a vaccine and save lives around the world. May we succeed in defeating this pandemic together.