OBSERVER REPORT
Pakistan still has a narrow window of opportunity to quickly learn from the experiences as well as errors of other countries in order to evolve innovative and comprehensive policy options for the coronavirus pandemic. The pandemic is also an opportunity for the nation to become self-reliant in pharmaceuticals, biomedical engineering and public health management on war footings. This is not the time for a popularity contest and so some tough decisions, which could be politically costly, have to be taken to save lives and the economy, according to experts addressing the second session of a webinar series, ‘Covid-19: Global Challenge, National Response,’ organized by Institute of Policy Studies (IPS). Senior policy analyst Syed Muhammad Ali was the main speaker who covered different aspects of the pandemic challenges and presented viable policy recommendations. The event was jointly chaired by Dr Waqar Masood Khan, former federal finance secretary and member of IPS Academic Council, and Khalid Rahman, Executive President IPS. Ali said the extent of the pandemic, whether economic, political, cultural, social or health, varies for different countries and their political systems are tackling this challenge in different ways. But the longer critical decisions are delayed the more a country’s resources come under stress and it faces economic, political and social problems. He was of the view that various tactics need to be deployed in the war against Covid-19 including close international economic collaboration, use of medical technology and international diplomacy. Regarding strategic measures that the government should initiate, Ali said these can include a national strategic medical supplies stockpile or database, national and international collaboration in biomedical research, three levels of compulsory 14-day quarantine at international, inter-provincial and local levels, online crisis management training courses for quarantine center staff, initiation of a national crisis information management system, and monopoly of National Disaster Management Authority on all related information. He said in these trying times it is critical that Pakistan should lobby with other developing nations to ask the international financial institutions for a review of their financial arrangements and assistance programs based on humanitarian concerns. Ali said the government has submitted a report with the Supreme Court that it expects 50,000 positive cases of coronavirus by April 25. So if the situation worsens then the government should declare the food, healthcare, petroleum and banking sectors as critical and manage them directly, he added
