KARACHI: Engro Foundation has committed financial assistance to Patients’ Aid Foundation, JPMC, for the procurement of 14000 medical grade scrubs to protect frontline healthcare workers against the rising incidence of Omicron variant of COVID-19 in Karachi.
The commitment is part of the Rs1 billion Hussain Dawood Pledge by the Engro Foundation, the social investment arm of Engro Corporation.
In April 2020, Hussain Dawood, on behalf of Engro Corporation, Dawood Hercules Corporation and his Family, pledged a contribution in services, kind, and cash of Rs1 billion to support COVID-19 relief efforts on multiple fronts.
The pledge focuses on disease prevention, protecting and enabling healthcare practitioners and frontline workers, enabling patient care and facilities, and bolstering livelihoods and sustenance of the most deserving in society.
According to Sindh Health Department figures, the COVID-19 positivity rate in Karachi has climbed significantly in recent weeks and reached double digit figures, causing a surge in the number of hospitalizations in medical facilities.
Under the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), Patients’ Aid Foundation will utilize the 14,000 medical scrubs for the JPMC medical staff, who remain highly exposed to the infectious Omicron variant of COVID-19.
Under the Hussain Dawood Pledge, Rs498 million have already been allocated to different initiatives across Pakistan. Earlier, Engro Foundation had collaborated with the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and provincial governments to donate 459,000 units of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) worth Rs100 million for frontline healthcare practitioners.
According to Ghias Khan, President & CEO of Engro Corporation and Trustee of Engro Foundation, with an alarming increase in COVID-19 cases during this fifth wave, it is imperative that our healthcare practitioners and other key frontline staff feel safe and well-equipped to perform their duties in the best possible manner. “We hope that our humble contribution towards this cause will help protect our frontline heroes and prevent the spread of COVID-19”, he added.
Addressing a ceremony for MoU signing, Ahsan Zafar Syed CEO of Engro Energy has said that currently, Karachi is witnessing one of the highest numbers of Omicron cases in Pakistan. Therefore, we feel that it is our duty to help frontline health workers and medical staff as much as possible, he added.
On the occasion Dr Tariq Mahmood, Executive Director at JPMC, said that healthcare workers are at an increased risk of being infected with the Omicron variant. He thanked Engro for recognizing the urgent need to protect and enable the medical staff so that they can effectively serve the patients.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022