Responding to the unprecedented challenges faced by the nation to control coronavirus (Covid-19), JS Bank has established a Rs110 million fund in association with key partners to help address the impact of the pandemic during the month of April.

Based on a pledge matching initiative wherein JS Bank equally matched all support pledges made by its partners, this fund is rooted in JS Bank's philanthropic philosophy of collaborative efforts and will focus on addressing some of the immediate and long-term issues related to the pandemic.

The three-tiered strategy will revolve primarily on providing immediate relief, pandemic control and future response capacity building.

The first phase will focus on provision of rations and necessities worth Rs30 million to food insecure families while the second phase will see distribution of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and donations worth Rs50 million to medical and other frontline institutions including non-governmental organisations.

Understanding the necessity of a long-term solution, the third phase of the programme will focus on mitigating the long-term health impact of the virus through medical and technological Research and Development.

The focus area will include studies on the transmission, evolution and impact of the virus on the Pakistani population including pregnant women with the overarching aim of developing a vaccine, improving the specificity and sensitivity of diagnostic kits and development of rapid testing kits.