Good initiative

Encouraged by the results of antimalarial drugs in the treatment of Covid19 patients Getz Pharma has joined hands with Medical University Lahore in the clinical trials of Hydroxychloroquine clinical trials in Pakistan. The pharmaceutical firm has been accredited by the World Health Organisation (WHO) for manufacturing a number of pharmaceutical products. US Food and Drugs Administration have given emergency approval for this antimalarial drug for the treatment of coronavirus infection. However, WHO has not yet recommended its optimal dose.

The research on the use, efficacy and side effects may be on in a number of countries, which will take a long time before it is published in the medical journals. At present no research literature has been published in the topnotch research journals such as “Nature” and “Nature Medicine” of America.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has emphasised for developing a universal vaccine for preventing the recurrence of Covid 19. The inefficiencies in preventive care caused the global spread of the pandemic. In Pakistan proper quarantine facility was not established for returning stranded Pakistanis from Iran at Taftan Border. No proper partitions had been made between the beds of people housed in the quarantine center. Uncertain food supplies provided a room for vendors to set up stalls of eatables near the center, exposing greater number of people to the infection risks. Likewise, the lapses in testing mechanism at the airports enabled a number of returnees from the Middle East to leave for their home without being tested for the virus. Hence, local transmission of the virus got momentum. That is why the number of new cases and fatalities are on the rise despite the satisfactory rate of recovery of patients.