The United States government, through the US Agency for International Development (USAID), has established a command and controlcentre (CCC) for the Sindh health department, so as to assist it in responding to the coronavirus pandemic.
Sindh Health Minister Dr Azra FazlPechuho and USAID provincial director for Sindh and Balochistan James Parys attended the semi-virtual inauguration ceremony of the centre, according to a statement issued by the US Consulate in Karachi
.The command and controlcentre has been aimed at facilitating monitoring and decision making with regards to the coronavirus at present, and will serve a similar purpose while dealing with other public health threats in the future.
“The command and controlcentre will provide strategic and policy-level guidance to help in the prevention, detection and notification of infectious diseases,” said Parys at the inauguration ceremony.The USAID has collaborated with the federal and provincial health departments in Pakistan to establish such centres to reinforce the government’s response to Covid-19 and other infectious diseases.
“Our collaboration on the response to Covid-19 builds upon the legacy of partnership and our shared goal to save lives through the delivery of basic, essential health services in the province,” said Parys.
Moreover, the Sindh government has also sought the support of the World Health Organisation (WHO) to meet the upcoming challenges of vaccination for coronavirus prevention in the province and asked it to assist the local authorities from procurement of the vaccines to their storage and from cold-chain management to their distribution.
The proposal to the WHO was made by Sindh Health Minister Dr Azra Pechuho while inaugurating the refurbished Expanded Programme on Immunisationcentres, provision of six vaccination vans, vehicles and other equipment to the EPI Sindh by the WHO last month.
The health minister said the support of a body like WHO was crucial to make the Covid-19 vaccines available to people who could not afford it.
