Pakistan, China for furthering health cooperation

By Masood Sattar Khan
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

The Advisor to Prime Minister on Health, Dr Zafar Mirza, has said that the government has accorded great importance to the nationwide response to the epidemic since the first-ever case of coronavirus (COVID-19) was found in Pakistan.

He expressed these views while meeting the Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan, Yao Jing, in Islamabad. They deliberated on the subject of anti-epidemic cooperation. 

According to the details shared by the Chinese Embassy on May 14, the Advisor to Prime Minister on Health expressed his gratitude to the people and the government of China for having arranged for various medical supplies besides extending support to Pakistan through different means. 

In March, the Chinese government had sent a team of medical experts to assist Pakistan. Recently, a team of medical experts from the Chinese military also came to work in Pakistan. China has provided the largest external support for Pakistan to fight the epidemic. 

Ambassador Yao pointed out that China was the first to report the epidemic situation to the World Health Organization (WHO) and it took timely and strict measures to respond to the epidemic situation, thus winning precious time for the global anti-epidemic. 

“After China's epidemic situation has improved, it has actively launched international anti-epidemic cooperation campaign. In the process of responding to the epidemic, all walks of life in China and Pakistan have always supported and helped each other. The all-weather strategic cooperative partnership between China and Pakistan has been further strengthened,” the ambassador reckoned.