The Ministry of Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Wednesday cleared $588 million in funds from the World Bank (WB) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in support for the COVID-19 emergency response and to address the socioeconomic disruption associated with it. The Ministry of Planning cleared an amount of $238 million from the WB funding and endorsed another $350 million funding offered by the ADB in support for coronavirus emergency response, and to address the socioeconomic disruption associated with it.
A special meeting of the Concept Clearance Committee of Central Development Working Party (CDWP) was held on Wednesday under the chairmanship of Deputy Chairman Planning Commission Mohammad Jehanzeb Khan. Member Social Sector Dr Shabnum Sarfraz, Member Private Sector Asim Saeed, DG Health Dr Safi, Country Director, World Bank, Illango Patchamuthu, and ADB Country Director Xiaohong Yang.
Representatives from the EAD, Finance and Health Ministry were also present in the meeting. While chairing a meeting, Deputy Chairman Planning Commission Mohammad Jehanzeb Khan thanked the ADB and the World Bank for the all-out support to Pakistan during testing times.
He said that not only we need to enhance our cooperation to jointly fight challenges but we must also work to demonstrate our firm commitment for a multifaceted cooperation in different fields. The country directors, World Bank and the ADB elaborated on the various financial instruments that would be made available to support the government for responding to the COVID-19, both for the emergency response as well as for catering to the socio-economic impact of the epidemic on the vulnerable and marginalized population.
The Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination had evolved, "Pakistan National Emergency Preparedness and Response Plan for COVID-19" to enhance the country capacity for preparedness and response to the COVID-19 pandemic, by establishing functional coordination mechanism at the national and provincial levels.
According to a press release issued by the Ministry of Planning, project concept, "Pakistan National Emergency Preparedness and response Plan for COVID-19," was presented and was subsequently approved.
The emergency project focus on taking measures through additional resources for strengthening the integrated disease surveillance and response system across the country through establishing isolation rooms, ensuring availability of Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) equipment and protective clothing for the health teams, timely diagnostics and procurement of equipment and ventilators for critical care/case management across the country.
It also included establishment of a real-time surveillance mechanism for early detection and embedding of prevention and control measures to halt/minimize local transmission. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has announced a $6.5 billion initial package to address the immediate needs of its developing member countries (DMCs) as they respond to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
"This pandemic has become a major global crisis. It requires forceful action at national, regional, and global levels," said ADB President Masatsugu Asakawa.
"With our developing member countries, we are formulating an aggressive set of actions to combat the pandemic; to protect the poor, the vulnerable, and wider populations across the region; and to ensure economies will rebound as swiftly as possible. Based on close dialogue with our members and peer institutions, we are deploying this $6.5 billion rescue package to meet the immediate needs of our members," Asakawa Wednesday according to a press statement received here.
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said, while talking to media said that China would also provide cash in grants to Pakistan to be used to set up a state-of-the-art isolation centers to combat the new highly infectious disease. He said that China would also provide testing kits, ventilators and other medical equipment to deal with the country's coronavirus outbreak.
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