March 16, 2020: A special meeting of Concept Clearance Committee / CDWP was convened to initiate precautionary measures and approve the concept paper of “Pakistan National Emergency Preparedness and Response Plan for COVID-19” in Islamabad.
The meeting was chaired by Deputy Chairman Planning Commission Dr. Muhammad Jehanzeb Khan. Secretary Planning Mr. Zafar Hasan and senior officials from EAD ministries also attended the meeting.
The Project was presented by Chief Health and informed that the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination have come up with a proposal to enhance country capacity for preparedness and response to COVID-19 pandemic.
The project aims to establish a functional coordination mechanism at the national and provincial levels for preparedness and response to the COVID-19 Pandemic.
The government of Pakistan is working to strengthen preparedness to identify, diagnose primary cases, effectively respond to minimize the impact of COVID-19 through surveillance strengthening, case management, infection prevention and control, risk communication and coordination.
Deputy Chairman Planning Commission Dr. Jehanzeb Khan stated that strong surveillance would help in the prevention of the outbreak. He also noted that Pakistan already has a law named “Emergency Diseases Control Act” that supports immediate measures against the outbreak of any diseases. He further noted that such situations are dealt at the national level and the federal government will fully support the provincial governments to control the pandemic.
Secretary Planning Mr. Zafar Hasan stated that the general public needs to be informed about the safety measures to effectually control Coronavirus. Secretary EAD Dr. Syed Pervaiz Abbas stated that loan financing is made available by World Bank and ADB however, grant financing should be explored from other multilateral organizations. The CDWP forum approved the concept clearance proposal.
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