ISLAMABAD: As the Covid-19 epidemic subsides, Prime Minister Imran Khan formally shut down the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), which has overseen the government’s epidemic response and kept the nation streamlined on diurnal cases, deaths, reclamations, number of vaccinations,etc.
The advertisement came just four days after the centre marked two times of its establishment and two weeks after the government blazoned that Covid has normalised after infecting further than1.5 million Pakistani and taking the lives of people since March 2020.
“ Moment, as the NCOC closes down, I want to compliment the NCOC platoon and its leadership for a professional, nationally coordinated response to the epidemic. As a result, our Covid response was recognised by ( transnational) agencies and people in the field as one of the most successful encyclopedically,” the premier twittered.
Planning Minister Asad Umar, who was heading the centre, also blazoned its check in a Twitter post “ Moment is last day of NCOC operation. With Covid pointers at an each- time low and high position of vaccination, the cane now being passed on to health ministry. Chairing NCOC during last two times and working with the most devoted platoon has been the topmost honor and honour of my life.”
PM, govt officers hail centre as success story; National Institute of Health will now deal with epidemic- related matters.
“ With Allah’s mercy and support of the entire nation, we’ve been suitable to overcome this unknown challenge. Makes me immensely proud as a Pakistani that (the country) entered praise for its Covid response as one of the most successful in the world from global agencies and personalities,” he went on to say.
Addressing a news conference along with Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Health Dr Faisal Sultan, Mr Umar said that “ we have learnt to live with the epidemic”.
He said the mastermind of the success story was Prime Minister Imran Khan.
He also thanked the millions for cooperating with the government and clinging to the standard operating procedures ( Bribes).
“ There was a part of the civil and parochial health departments, Pakistan army, the (National Disaster Management Authority) platoon for furnishing logistics to the hospitals, the civil bureaucracy, bar and the business community to make it a success story. Director General Operations Maj Gen Asif Mehmood Goraya is a idol who played a major part at the NCOC,” he said.
Dr Sultan and his platoon also played a major part to control the epidemic, the minister said, adding that frontal- line health workers were also the real icons who put their lives at threat to save people from the epidemic.
Latterly, Dr Sultan informed that the National Institute of Health Centre for Disease Control (NIH-CDC) would now deal with Covid- related matters.
“ As the NCOC transitions over its numerous places to the new CDC of the NIH, I would like to thank all the associates with whom I’ve had the great occasion to serve and learn. This was a remarkable coordinating medium that has been vital to the Covid trouble in Pakistan,” Dr Sultan twittered.
University of Health Lores Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Javed Akram supported the decision to hand over the job to NIH, which he said had been established to deal with afflictions. “ We need to have only one department to deal with afflictions. Establishing new departments for conditions can not be cost-effective,” he said.
Replying to a question, Dr Akram said that civil and military departments set a positive illustration by working in accord, but “ we should come out of the fire- fighting mode”.
“ There should be an early- warning system to deal with the afflictions. There should be dashboards for conditions and real- time data should be uploaded. We need to keep an eye on global developments and should be ready to deal with afflictions,” he said.
Still, Research and Data Management Team Lead of Free and Fair Election Network (Fafen) Sahabzada Saud told Dawn that there were a number of gaps in the health system and NCOC plugged-in those gaps.
“ I still believe that there are gaps in the health operation system. There’s no capacity, especially at parochial position, to deal with health- related issues. Over a decade or further, the world has faced several afflictions, similar as severe acute respiratory pattern (SARS), Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), Ebola and Covid-19. It shows that we may have to face further afflictions in the future. The NCOC performed well and the vaccination process was also managed well,” he said.
Mr Saud, who dealt with Covid- related reports of Fafen, said the health ministry might not be suitable to deal with similar issues, as there were capacity constraints. He said the NCOC had developed collaboration between the civil and parochial governments and managed vaccination well.
Since the Covid epidemic began, vaccine boluses have been administered. As numerous as people have entered at least one cure of the vaccine, of whom have come completely vaccinated and have got supporter shots.
The NCOC held daily meetings, which were concertedly presided by Mr Umar and NCOC National Fellow Maj Gen Muhammad Zafar Iqbal and attended by Dr Sultan.
Also, it had representation from all the businesses and executive units. The data was participated after every eight hours and streamlined at least formerly a day.
“ Maj Gen Babar Iftikhar was the person who converted the idea into a practical centre throughInter-Services Public Relations (ISPR),” a elderly functionary of the Ministry of National Health Services told Dawn on condition of obscurity, adding that the NCOC was established on March 27, 2020.
“ As numerous as Rs50 billion of the public bankroll was saved by the NCOC in terms of free media juggernauts. Further than 40 juggernauts were run by the centre. It got appreciation from Bill Gates, the World Health Organisation (WHO) and numerous other organisations,” he said.
Prime Minister Imran Khan chaired the meeting of NSC and directed the authorities concerned to concoct a comprehensive strategy to help the spread of the complaint.
Still, a lockdown was blazoned on March 16 that time and numerous diligence, including construction, educational institutions, caffs, marriage halls, etc, were closed.
