PMA for uniform policy to check pandemic

LAHORE:The Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) has been raising its voice from the day one to prevent Coronavirus but unfortunately it was not heeded.

On January 22, 2020, PMA warned the government to take appropriate steps to stop spreading coronavirus in the country, but unfortunately the SOPs have never been implemented strictly.

“We should remain thankful to God for his special blessings that we remained safe during the first wave of coronavirus and did not face the horrible situation that was faced by many countries of the world,” said Dr SM Qaisar Sajjad, Secretary General, PMA (Centre), in a statement on Monday.

Now we are facing the 2nd wave of the Coronavirus which is more lethal than the first one. It has been observed that the infected patient is getting serious and dying due to the severity of the disease and negligence of patients. We regretfully say that even after this much severity the public is seen not seriously adopting preventive measures and the government seems to have failed in implementing strict SOPs in every field of life. The way the large political and religious gatherings are continuously taking place, have spread the epidemic drastically. A large numbers of doctors and paramedics have also been infected with coronavirus and are in quarantine, because they are performing their duties without PPEs and also they are not following SOPs properly. The government is not providing PPEs to healthcare workers. If the situation is worsened the most of the healthcare workers will not be able to treat patients as they will be in quarantine, it said. The burden of disease at Corona designated hospitals is increasing day by day, almost 90 to 95 percent beds have been occupied. Number of corona cases and deaths are rising shockingly. If the government does not tackle the situation properly then more doctors and paramedics will be affected and we can face shortage of doctors. Although the government is conducting less corona tests there should be at least 25,000 tests conducted daily in each province as we have already demanded. Testing capacity should be increased and should be done free of cost all over Pakistan and the government should pay to the private labs, the PMA said.

PMA believes that if number of cases rise with the same speed then the government will have no choice except lockdown. We once again request government to form uniform policy against coronavirus and implement it sternly throughout Pakistan. Government should also bring laws to fine / punish people not following SOPs. PMA demands from the government to provide PPEs to all healthcare workers immediately to protect their lives and increase the facilities in the hospitals for corona patient’s management. PMA again reiterates public to follow the following preventive measures (SOPs) for the protection of coronavirus.