Can Pakistan Effectively Respond to the Coronavirus Pandemic?
By Riaz Haq
CA
Pakistani public health system’s ability to deal with Covid19 pandemic is being increasingly questioned with the number of confirmed coronavirus spiking in the country.
The current hotspot is in southern Sindh province where the provincial government is taking the lead in fighting its spread by shutting down schools, closing restaurants and shopping malls and banning large gatherings such as weddings and conferences. The federal government has closed Pakistan’s western border with Iran where the coronavirus pandemic is raging. Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority has started screening all incoming passengers and stopped flights to and from several countries hit by the pandemic. Pakistani health experts are advising people with flu-like symptoms to self-isolate themselves in their homes. The best known treatment for the severely ill is Resochin, the anti-malarial antiviral made by Bayer Pakistan.
Is Pakistan Ready?
Pakistan is among only six countries in the world that have taken the steps they need to evaluate their ability to withstand a global pandemic, according to a 2017 report sponsored by the World Bank. The six countries named in the report are: Eritrea, Finland, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Tanzania and the United States.
Pakistan’s ability to deal with a pandemic is now being tested by Covid19. Pakistan is ramping up coronavirus testing and setting up isolation wards at many hospitals in Sindh and across the country. More testing accounts for the spike in confirmed cases.
In response to a recent request by Pakistan’s Express Tribune newspaper staff, World Health Organization Executive Director Dr Michael J. Ryan said Pakistan has great capacity in public health but he also talked of challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic. “Pakistan has a highly mobile population with mega cities and underserved people,” he said. “So there is a great challenge facing Pakistan. But Pakistan has also demonstrated time and again with dengue, polio and other diseases how all of the government and society’s approaches can be made to work.”
Dr Palitha Gunarathna Mahipala, World Health Organization (WHO) representative in Pakistan, also lauded the country’s response to the Covid19 pandemic, according to The News. He said, “Pakistan has timely come up with one of the world’s best National Response Programs against COVID-19 and it is being implemented very effectively. Authorities are doing their job and now it is the responsibility of the people to follow the instructions and take preventive and precautionary measures to avoid contracting the viral disease.”
The World Bank report titled “From Panic and Neglect to Investing in Health Security: Financing Pandemic Preparedness at a National Level” was written by experts from the World Bank, the World Health Organization, the International Monetary Fund, the African and Asian development banks, and finance officials from various governments. The report included estimates of the economic damage various epidemics had caused. For example, the viral pneumonia SARS — which ultimately killed only 774 people — shrank China’s gross domestic product by 0.5 percent in 2003. The report also broke down costs on a per capita basis. A major flu pandemic, for example, would cost Afghanistan only $12 per citizen, India $31, Pakistan $28 and the United States $248.
Social Distancing
Italian experience with coronavirus has shown that even a well-developed public health system in a rich European country can be overwhelmed by a rapidly growing pandemic such as Covid19. The best way to handle the situation is to cut the infection rate by keeping people about 6 feet apart. This is being called “social distancing”.
Based on what the United States has learned from what is happening in Italy, major cities and states in America are taking steps to reduce large gatherings of people. Offices, schools, restaurants and shopping centers are closed with shelter-in-place orders in Silicon Valley and the larger 6-county San Francisco Bay Area.
Herd Immunity
Herd immunity develops when a large percentage of population is infected or vaccinated. Dr Arindam Basu, Associate Professor of Epidemiology and Environmental Health at University of Canterbury, has recently written an article in The Conversation in which he observes that it is “unethical and potentially dangerous” to wait for herd immunity to develop in the absence of a vaccine. It could result in hundreds of thousands or even millions of deaths among the most vulnerable segments of the population such as the elderly and the immune-compromised.
Pakistan’s Assistance to China
Chinese President Xi Jinping has thanked Pakistan for its support during the coronavirus outbreak in his country. “China is deeply grateful for Pakistan’s support. Facts have proved once again that China and Pakistan are true friends who share weal and woe and good brothers who share each other’s joys and sorrows. The special friendship is a historical choice, and is deeply rooted in the hearts of the two peoples,” said Xi.
Resochin produced by Bayer Pakistan
At the peak of the outbreak in February, Bayer Pakistan delivered 300,000 tablets of Resochin (Chloroquin) that proved effective in treating coronavirus infections and saving lives in Wuhan. Resochin is an antiviral drug used for treating malaria. China and many other countries discontinued its production years ago.
In addition, Pakistan donated 7,000 surgical masks to China at the peak of the coronavirus outbreak.
Economic Impact of Coronavirus Pandemic
The Service sector accounts for 50% of the world GDP and 54% of Pakistan’s GDP. Social distancing will significantly impact the services, particularly retail, restaurants, travel, transport and education sectors. Imran Khan has expressed fear that the pandemic will devastate the economy of developing countries.
“My worry is poverty and hunger,” Khan said. “The world community has to think of some sort of a debt write-off for countries like us, which are very vulnerable, at least that will help us in coping with (the coronavirus).”
(Riaz Haq is a Silicon Valley-based Pakistani-American analyst and writer. He blogs at www.riazhaq.com)
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