F.P. Report
KOHAT: Vice Chancellor KUST Prof. Dr. Tasleem Hussain forwarded detail project for establishing BSL3 Lab to office of District Management Kohat, that was prepared by a committee comprised of faculty members who are internationally known scientists and some having expertise in the field of virology/ infectious diseases.
The project was submitted to district management kohat division, as was decided in a meeting held at District Headquarter hospital kohat two weeks earlier, called by Mr. Sehryar Afridi (State Minister for SAFRON and Narcotics) and Mr. Zia Ullah Bangash (Advisor to Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa On Science & Technology and Information Technology) also attended by Vice Chancellor KUST Prof. Dr. Syed Tasleem Hussain and Registrar Dr. Wasi Ullah Malik. The committee prepared project with the title “Establishment of Infectious diseases diagnostic laboratory at Kohat University of Science and Technology” convened by Prof. Shafiq-ur-Rehman (Dean Faculty of Biological Sciences) who is one of the internationally known biologist and senior academician.
Other members of the committee includes Prof. Fida Younus Khattak (Dean Faculty of Physical and Numerical Sciences), Prof. Shahid Niaz (Dept of Zoology), Dr. Muhammad Qasim (Dept of Microbiology), Dr. Mubashir (Dept of Microbiology), Dr. Taj Ali (Dept of Microbiology), Dr. Niaz Muhammad (Dept of Microbiology). Prof. Shahid Niaz during the project proposal visited different Hi-tech BSL3 labs in the country and met internationally known experts in Medical technology.
The objectives of establishing this lab facility at KUST is to conduct ten thousand (10,000) tests for the detection of COVID-19 in 03 months and to provide state of the art diagnostic facilities of COVID-19 to cater the need and demand of the entire region of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, particularly of the Southern built at cheap and affordable rates.
The capital cost including civil work, equipment, consumable, maintenance and consultancy is approximately 86.589 million in rupees.
The committee after detail discussion, prepared and submitted project proposal (short term) to the Vice Chancellor KUST that was forwarded to district management kohat divison. Vice Chancellor KUST appreciated the contribution of the committee in providing technical assistance to help government fight against COVID-19 pandemic challenges by establishing BSL3 lab at KUST that will provide best testing facility for COVID-19.
Meanwhile, another committee has been directed by VC KUST to prepare a detail project proposal for establishing a high-tech infectious diseases diagnostic laboratory, that can be utilized by faculty and students for research and to combat any future pandemic challenging situation in the region.
