Ruthlessly, ignoring the grim ground reality about the preventive and curative healthcare system in the country, the leadership mainstream, opposition parties are treating the coronavirus pandemic as an arena of politics for settling scores with PTI government. The outburst in media talk about mishandling of coronavirus spread effect by the government is nothing, but setting a political agenda. They forget the bitter fact that PML-N and PPP governments in their alternating tenures of governments had neither built new hospitals nor set up Virology laboratories for the preparation of vaccine. All new hospitals were built in unelected government and not in the elected governments of feudal and mercantile class oligarchy controlled political parties. The same oligarchs have always availed medical checkup and treatment abroad at the expenses of national exchequer by leeching out poor tax payer’s money.
Previous governments deliberately ignored to facilitate entrepreneurs to set up industry producing raw materials for pharmaceutical firms and made the country entirely dependent on India for precursors import due to their vested interest. India has now imposed a ban on raw material export, which is used in the preparation of medicines. The association of pharmaceutical industry has highlighted this issue in media few days ago. The same policy of criminal neglect was pursued in the production of testing kits and required Biochemistry chemicals, ordinary and specialized masks, and required number of ventilators. Credit must be given to the PTI government for arranging emergency import of coronavirus testing kits, masks and ventilators from China.
In a media talk in Lahore PML-N President Shabaz Sharif and PPP Chairman Bilwal Bhutto Zardari criticised the government for showing an oblivious attitude to increasing number of coronavirus infections and have asked expanding the coverage of screening and testing facilities free of cost to every citizen of the country. Shabaz Sharif urged the government to provide a reliable data about the infected people. He proposed setting up Quarantine facilities at schools, colleges, mosques and buildings of marriage halls. As a sheer political gimmick, he demanded the restoration of local bodies’ setup, which had completed its tenure last year and local bodies’ polls have been deferred for 9 months due to this natural calamity.
Screening and testing of every citizen of the country is practically impossible for the want of expensive coronavirus testing kits, scarce trained technicians and above all time constrain. If, it has been so easy, then the screening and testing of the pathogen would have been done in the highly developed countries, such as the United States, the UK and Germany. The US is importing coronavirus testing kits from China. It will take years to screen 220 million people and treated for the virus. Does the leader of opposition not know that OPDs have been closed and patients are being admitted in hospital for surgeries to make manpower available for testing and treatment of coronavirus infected patients? It is really blessing of god that the number of patients that recover COVID-19 is appreciably high and death rate is very low, if compared with tally of fatalities in developed countries including the United States and the UK.
The situation of coronavirus pandemic is very alarming in the United States, if reckoned by 2490 deaths and 142,790 infections. In the UK, the number of coronavirus infections has gone up to 19,552 and 1228 deaths has been reported. But in these countries opposition has not raised accusing finger on the efforts and service that government provide. President trump has warned agent’s peak number of deaths from COVID-19 and his top medical advisor Anthony Fauci has hinted at the possibility 100,000 to 2000, 000 coronavirus related deaths.
For every coronavirus infected individual a separate room and washroom shall be required during quartile period. Will this facility be available in the premises’ that Shabaz Sharif propose for the establishment of quarantines? Why this seasoned politician is kidding? Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health Dr. Zafar Mirza has attributed 78 percent spread of coronavirus to the returnees from abroad and 22 percent to local transmission of the contagion. Why opposition leaders are focusing their attention on educating the people about the importance of social distancing and observing the health advisory to remain safe from this viral infection? Does this tirade of opposition reflect their frustration from being out of power and obsession for be in power? To get their facts right, they don’t have to look further rather in the mirror.
