PTI govt plans infectious disease centre in Pakistan modelled after US CDC
December 04, 2020
KARACHI: The PTI government is planning to establish a Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) – similar to the Atlanta-based national public health institute in the United States, Special Assistant to PM on National Health Services Dr Faisal Sultan told The News.
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But what about NIH?
But Pakistan already has a public health institution; the Islamabad-based National Institute of Health (NIH). “In its present form, NIH is not fulfilling the function of a centre for disease control and prevention despite having a national laboratory,” said Sultan.
The physician explained that the NIH has a different function and is headed in the right direction “under current leadership but unfortunately it is not serving the purpose for which it was established”.
The planned centre would be a different institution – it would gather information on diseases, analyse, and recommend actions and issue guidelines on all aspects of health.
Sultan said it would cut down the need to create setups such as the National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC) and the National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC). He added that this reactionary practice should come to end now and there should be a permanent institution like the CDC Atlanta to deal with such emergencies and plan for future threats.
He added that the Pakistani CDC would also monitor road-traffic accidents and other disasters involving trauma and emergency. “It would present recommendations to lower these incidents as well as a guide on managing them properly”.
According to The News report, the government is in the advanced stages to establish the centre which will deal with epidemics and emerging infectious ailments and pandemics and guide federal and provincial governments.
"Long-standing dream"
Sultan said it was his “long-standing dream” to build the centre and it will materialize “within a few weeks or months”. He said the draft legislation is being vetted by experts as his team searched for epidemiologists, microbiologists, molecular genetics experts, virologists and other experts.
Sultan said the institute would either be established through a presidential ordinance or an Act of Parliament, adding that “all legal formalities are being completed”.
The special assistant said several other infectious diseases and public health experts had been feeling the need for having such an institute in Pakistan for very long.
Help from US, China, Britain and overseas Pakistanis
Sultan said the governments of US, China and Britain offered assistance to establish CDC Pakistan, adding that Pakistani health experts based abroad were also very enthusiastic and willing to help the country.
“I have spoken to the ambassadors of the United States and China and the British High Commissioner in Pakistan and they all are willing to help us in this regard. There are several leading Pakistani health scientists and experts who are working at such institutions and they too are very enthusiastic and willing to support us in this endeavour,” the SAPM maintained.
