Pakistan joins countries manufacturing ventilators on their own

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry on Tuesday informed National Assembly that the first consignment of domestically produced ventilators will be handed over to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) till Friday, ARY News reported.

Speaking in National Assembly, Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhary said that Pakistan has joined the ranks of those few countries which are producing their own ventilators. The minister also paid tribute to scientists and engineers for producing the ‘Made in Pakistan’ ventilators.

He further said that the price of domestic ventilators as well as protective gear and testing kits is far less than the imported ones.

Earlier on Sunday, he felicitated the National Radio & Telecommunication Corporation (NRTC) over the development, saying the next three designs are in the final phase, after which Pakistan will join the list of a few countries that manufacture complex medical devices.

All these machines are in line with the EU Standards, the federal minister cleared.

The house has now started discussion on the supplementary demands for grants and appropriations pertaining to different ministries and departments for the outgoing fiscal year.

Last month, Fawad Chaudhry had announced the government was going to lift a ban on export of personal protective equipment (PPE).

“This week ban on exports of PPE’s [wi]ll be completely lifted and Pakistani manufactures [wi]ll be able to export COVID 19 related material to the world, this trade ll help Pak immensely,” he tweeted.