PML-N chides govt for 'lack of ventilators, PPE' at Islamabad hospitals

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) spokesperson Marriyam Aurangzeb on Tuesday chided the government for what she said a shortage of ventilators and personal protective equipment (PPE) for medics in Islamabad.

She in a statement said a total of fourteen ventilators moved to an isolation ward of the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) are non-operational. The government is telling a lie that 90 ventilators are available, she added.

There are only four ventilators for coronavirus patients at Polyclinic Hospital, Ms Aurangzeb lamented, urging political parties to desist from playing politics over the pandemic. She demanded that doctors treating Covid-19 patients in Islamabad hospitals be provided protective gear.

The PML-N leader termed non-provision of PPE to medics “criminal negligence.”

Earlier, on May 31, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) had announced to distribute 100 more ventilators to all provinces. It said the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) Hospital, Islamabad has already been provided with the ventilators.

A spokesperson for the NDMA said each province will be provided ten ICU and ten BiPAP portable ventilators. Ten BiPAP portable ventilators each have been earmarked for Azad Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan, he said.