ISLAMABAD – Pakistan has started supplying free medicines to neighboringAfghanistan in wake of urgent shortages of medical supplies.
Reports in local media said, two containers of medicines worth Rs25 millionleft from Sindh capital. The first consignment includes medicines for thetreatment of viral infections, drugs for common ailments among the elderly,and supplies used in emergencies.
Apart from medicines, officials have also sent wheelchairs and other basicmedical equipment. A leading daily quoted an official of the PakistanPharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (PPMA), as saying: “This is thefirst consignment of our plan of medical assistance to Afghanistan.”
The officials added that Islamabad’s target is to supply medical aid ofaround Rs1 billion to the war-torn nation in the second week of December.Medicines and other pharmaceutical equipment are being sent to the capitalfrom Peshawar, Lahore, Multan, and other cities as well, per reports.
The huge medical aid comes in response to an appeal from the Afghan healthminister who requested Pakistan’s health sector for support in wake of alack of funds.
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The neighboring war-torn country has been plunged into humanitarian crisisby the sudden halt of billions of dollars in foreign assistance, weeksafter the end of the Western-backed ousted government.
Earlier in September, the World Health Organisation warned that Kabul’shealth system was on the brink of collapse.
Following the crisis under the new setup in the landlocked country,Islamabad has established a 300-bed tertiary-care health facility in thecountry’s capital “Mohammad Ali Jinnah Hospital,” which is the onlyfunctional public health facility in the country currently with 50oxygenated beds for coronavirus patients.
