THE contributions of Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) are enormous ranging from making the country’s defence impregnable through nuclear weapons to nuclear energy and medical fields.
And now by developing country’s first indigenous Intensive Care Unit (ICU) ventilator — i-Live, the organisation has added another feather to its cap.
In a statement, the PAEC said the ventilator developed by its scientists and engineers is in accordance with all essential quality standards and regulatory requirements, adding the ventilator has also successfully passed independent reviews and testing conducted throughout development lifecycle by the evaluation team from Pakistan Innovation and Technology Centre and Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC).
Indeed this is a milestone achieved by the country and Chairman PAEC Mohammad Naeem and its team of scientists, engineers and technicians deserve all the appreciation for making the whole nation proud through their tremendous work.
This is another manifestation of their sheer professionalism and their commitment to serve the country.
Just a year back, the country used to import ventilators and other sophisticated medical equipment from other countries and often our hospitals were faced with shortage because of their high price.
Though the breakout of Covid-19 has thrown a major challenge, yet we understand it also offered opportunities to countries like Pakistan to revamp their medical infrastructure.
The development of indigenous ventilator is a giant step towards self-reliance and as the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) has approved the PAEC’s built ventilator, there should be no delay in mass production of the life-saving machine so that growing demand of hospitals could be met for this crucial equipment in the context of Corona pandemic.
Another ventilator — Pak Vent-1 that was developed by Nescom — has also been cleared by the PEC and is awaiting approval from DRAP.
We are confident that government will accelerate the approval process of this as well as other ventilators so that they could be used immediately in our healthcare system as well as exported to earn invaluable foreign exchange.
