Comsats’ webinar highlights response of South Asian countries to COVID-19

Islamabad : Comsats South Asian member States gathered to share governmental and institutional experiences in COVID-19 response during an international webinar on ‘Digital Health in COVID-19: Sharing Experiences of Comsats’ South Asian Member States’. The event was jointly organised by the Commission on Science and Technology for Sustainable Development in the South (Comsats) and the Commonwealth Centre for Digital Health (CWCDH).

In his welcome remarks, Dr. S. M. Junaid Zaidi thanked the Commonwealth Centre for Digital Health (CWCDH) led by Dr. Vajira Dissanayake for jointly organising the webinar and called for joint efforts within the South for due utilisation of digital health technologies to fight the pandemic and to strengthen the healthcare systems.

The distinguished guests that spoke on the occasion included Dr. Vajira Dissanayake, Chairperson at Commonwealth Centre for Digital Health, Dr. Selim Reza, Deputy Secretary at the Ministry of Science and Technology of Bangladesh, Professor Dr. Md. Aftab Ali Shaikh, Chairman of the Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (BCSIR), Bangladesh, Dr. Anil Jasinghe, Secretary at the Ministry of Environment and Former Director General, Health Services, Sri Lanka, H.E Vice Admiral (Retd.) Mohan Wijewickrama, High Commissioner of Sri Lanka to Pakistan and Ambassador (R) Fauzia Nasreen, Advisor (SDGs) at Comsats Secretariat.

Dr. Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to Prime Minister of Pakistan, on Poverty Alleviation and Social Protection and Federal Minister, thanked Comsats for organising the present webinar and encouraged Comsats’ role as a leader in the use of digital technologies. Sharing Pakistan’s experience, she especially highlighted the role of Government’s ‘Ehsaas’ Programme that helped manage the situation from pandemic response as well as poverty alleviation angles.