Courtesy PID
Inaugurating country’s first ventilator manufacturing facility, Khan congratulates team on ‘landmark achievement’
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf-led government is committed to reforming Pakistan’s health sector, vowed Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday as he inaugurated the country’s first ventilator manufacturing facility.
“It is a landmark achievement for the country and I congratulate the entire team,” Khan said at the National Radio and Telecommunications Corporation (NRTC) in Haripur. He claimed the global community had acknowledged Pakistan’s decision to maintain lives and livelihoods while dealing with the coronavirus pandemic and promised that the government’s next focus would be “comprehensive health reforms.”
Lauding the NRTC and the Ministry of Science and Technology for locally producing ventilators, the prime minister said Pakistan had no dearth of talent and would continue to become self-reliant in various technologies. The government would fully support any initiatives that encourage youth potential, he added.
Touring the NRTC facility alongside Science and Technology Minister Fawad Chaudhry, Energy Minister Omar Ayub, P.M.’s Focal Person for COVID-19 Dr. Faisal Sultan, and NDMA Chairman Lt. Gen. Mohammad Afzal, Khan was briefed on the history, sectors of research and development, products and services being provided by the NRTC. The facility’s managing director, Brig. Tofique Ahmed, said the NRTC was indigenously making communications equipment, electro-medical equipment, as well as allied hardware and software.
Also on Monday, Fawad Chaudhry said that the first batch of indigenously manufactured ventilators had been handed over the NDMA for distribution to healthcare facilities across Pakistan.