Pak301 GDB

Question :

What are the remedial measures Pakistan government have taken so far to manage the
crises and challenges emerging out of current epidemic COVID-19?

Solution​ :-

Globally, corona virus (COVID19) pandemic has become the most significant crisis to challenge
the health, economy and the wellbeing of the humans affecting nearly all the countries. The
world governments are taking radical mitigation measures to counter the health impact of the
virus, which on the other hand has severe economic and financial consequences on the lives of
the people around the world. Thus, the COVID-19 has become more than a health crisis for all
countries with critical social, economic and political consequences.

Without exception, like all the countries of the world, Pakistan is also hit by the pandemic with
an increasing number of confirmed cases
The government of Pakistan has set aside a PKR 1.13 trillion ($6.76 billion) budget to effectively
deal with corona crisis. A large part of this funding is being spent in health to fight the COVID-19
crisis.

The national and provincial governments have additionally implemented Coronavirus related
laws to effectively deal with the situation. The country is in sometimes stricked lockdown and
sometimes in the condition of smarrt lackdown. The government has started to ease down the
lockdown as the spread of the virus seems to be under manageable proportions.

Moreover, the civil society, community and patient organizations have also been very active and
helping the government in providing the much-needed help in dealing with this crisis. There are
a number of ways the patient advocates and NGOs are providing relief to the community, which
include initiatives such as telephone helplines, social media campaigns, Whatsapp Support
Groups, provision of free medicine to needy patients, distribution of food Ration packs, corona
related informational material development and dissemination and telemedicine programs.

Pakistan so far has been able to implement effective medical, social and economical measures
due to which the situation on ground seems to be under control. The Pakistani Prime Minister,
Imran Khan in his recent statement has said that the government has taken unprecedented
steps to counter the effects of COVID-19 crisis and so far the country has dealt with the
pandemic quite effectively and Pakistan’s situation was not as bad as the United States or
Europe.

The government has given awareness on high level throug electric and social media to create
social distance and has instructed that how to wash hands and face several times a day to
prevent the disease.

The challenges facing Pakistan in the current crisis are stark, and it remains to be seen whether
the huge interventions that the government has undertaken will be enough to take the country
out of this pandemic successfully.