The Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases Society Pakistan (MMIDSP) has said Pakistan’s Covid-19 pandemic response is appropriate as the decreasing number of cases are the outcome of good decision-making and advisory role of infectious diseases specialists engaged by the federal and provincial authorities.
The society, said to be the sole representative of infectious diseases specialists in the country, stated that it members and public health experts at the National Institute of Health Islamabad came together in January after the initial reports of novel coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan, China.
The health experts, all currently serving in public and private sector hospitals across the country and many heading corona wards, had since been actively involved in shaping the country’s response to Covid-19 pandemic and played a pivotal role in formulating policies, identifying control measures, defining diagnostic and treatment strategies, teaching and training of healthcare workers and advising both provincial and federal governments on mitigation strategies, it added.
‘Political consensus irrelevant’
“Control measures to contain infection have to be based on sound scientific principles; political consensus is irrelevant in this context,” the statement said, adding that the level of preparedness of different healthcare facilities proved largely to be appropriate for the number of cases and currently many of the beds assigned for Covid-19 patients in these facilities lie vacant.
The PCR-based testing for Covid, which was initiated in January and is now available in many cities, was not feasible for minimally symptomatic patients or for large-scale screening of asymptomatic individuals, the society said, adding that seroprevalence studies, designed in collaboration with experts in the field and WHO officials, were under way in different parts of the country and the results would guide decisions regarding control measures, resource allocation and further initiatives.