Islamabad:The Government of the Republic of Korea will provide in-kind assistance worth US $300,000 via the World Health Organization (WHO) in Pakistan to support the country’s response to the Covid-19 outbreak. Korean investing companies have also contributed to the cause, with companies such as K-Water, KOEN, and KOICA providing an additional US $47,000 to Pakistan for COVID-19.
In a meeting with WHO Representative and Head of Mission in Pakistan Dr. Palitha Mahipala, Ambassador Kwak Sung-kyu said, “The Government of the Republic of Korea hopes that this assistance will be instrumental in controlling the current spread of the pandemic in Pakistan and supporting the healthcare sector to cope with rapidly increasing COVID-19 caseload.”
COVID-19 case numbers have increased exponentially across the country in the past few weeks and further increase is anticipated to place an extraordinary burden on existing healthcare facilities. As such, support from countries like South Korea is necessary to strengthen the existing response capacity in priority areas such as surveillance, case testing, management of cases as well as communications with the public on effective prevention measures.
Dr. Palitha Mahipala appreciated the support and said it will l enable WHO to scale up its response activities to COVID-19 alongside federal and provincial national authorities and counterparts, especially in light of the prospect of an increased case load in coming weeks.