Dubai: World Health Organization (WHO) Chief, Dr. Tedros applauded Pakistan’s fight against COVID-19. He not only praised Pakistan but also the other six countries are Thailand, Italy, Mongolia, Mauritius, Uruguay and Germany.
Pak uses polio infrastructure
He said that Pakistan used infrastructure built for handing polio to combat COVID-19. Community health workers who were trained for door to door visit had played important role in surveillance and contact tracing, he added.
Many other countries including Cambodia, Japan, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea, Rwanda, Senegal, Spain and Vietnam have handled the disease because of lessons they had leaned from earlier outbreaks such as SARS, MERS, measles, polio, Ebola, flu, etc.
In reaction to the praise, former Pakistan health minister Dr Zafar Mirza tweeted, “Pakistan included among 7 countries by WHO Director General – countries that world can learn from about how to fight future pandemics. Great honor for the people of Pakistan. Alhamdolilah”.
Invest in public health
Reminding the world that coronavirus is not the last pandemic, Tedros said that countries must be ready before the outbreak of the next pandemic. He suggested countries to invest in public health.
Till now, Pakistan recorded 300, 371 coronavirus cases. The death toll climbed to 6,370.