Adviser to the Prime Minister on Climate Change, Malik Amin Aslam Friday said National Disaster Risk Management Fund (NDRMF) was the first institution to respond amid COVID-19 outbreak and provided Rs8 billion to National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) to procure medical and necessary equipment for fighting the pandemic.
Addressing a media briefing with Chairman NDRMF, Lieutenant General (R) Nadeem Ahmed, he said Ministry of Climate Change has managed this financing for COVID-19 or Coronavirus mitigation measures in liaison with the NDRMF.
Amin said the funding was released in record 24 hours to NDMA and orders for required equipment were placed consequently in China. “I congratulate Chairman NDRMF on this achievement. The first tranche booked items from China have reached. It included 50 mobile X-Ray machines, 1 lac testing kits, 1 lac N-95 masks and five lac surgical masks.”
He added that around 2million surgical masks, 196 ICU ventilators, testing kits and surgical masks were imported from China part of huge order.
“The coming week or ten days are very crucial for Pakistan as per the situation of the pandemic. Therefore, people must stay at home and avoid unnecessary outdoor activities to contain coronavirus.”
The Adviser added that the ministry was working under a three tier plan in line with the coordinated efforts of the government to reduce the risk of Coronavirus. “It comprises of prevention, mitigation and recovery as in different parts of the country were lying on these three stages.”
He said the equipment acquired by NDMA would be distributed to the hospitals across the country. However, the Authority had developed committees at district level in coordination with the Chief Secretaries of the provinces.
