KARACHI: Dr Palitha Mahipala, WHO's country representative in Pakistan, has praised Pakistan's response to the Covid-19 outbreak, saying that the federal and Sindh provincial governments implemented steps that reduced fatality rates and vaccinated the majority of their target populations.
While Covid-19 and other public health threats had been successfully contained, Dr Mahipala said that WHO had decided to continue its assistance for Sindh health officials and that in this regard, medical equipment, ambulances, and vaccine transportation vehicles were being transferred to the Sindh health department.
Additionally, the DHOs received a slew of office supplies such as 21 chair benches, 28 bracket fans, 35 desks, 35 spinning stoles, 70 executive office chairs, five copying machines, seven laptop computers thirteen projectors. Additional medical supplies, including 76 baby-weighing scales, 350 infrared thermometers, seven ultrasound machines, 105 digital BP apparatuses, 50 stethoscopes with flow metres, 50 glucometers and five cardiac monitors, were provided. Six autoclave machines and 15 oxygen cylinders with flow metre kits were also provided.
During and after the epidemic, Dr Pechuho acknowledged WHO for its assistance to the health department. For the previous two years, she wished that the pandemic would soon come to an end so that the world wouldn't have to confront another disaster of this size.
Her speech paid honour to the paramedics who had worked diligently and heroically throughout the pandemic, especially those who had lost their lives. This is because of the polio infrastructure built down in Sindh, she said, and because of the health services' ability to cope with this pandemic.