Coronavirus: Army takes over distribution of protective equipment to ensure transparency

National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) chief Lieutenant General Muhammad Afzal has said that the army, amid doctors’ complaints regarding the nonavailability of personal protective equipment (PPE), has taken over the distribution of the same and the equipment is now being provided to hospitals with the help of respective corps headquarters.

“As we had received complaints from some doctors that they were not getting PPE, I requested COAS [Chief of Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa] after which it was decided that PPEs will directly be sent to the corps headquarters concerned rather than sharing them with the provincial governments,” Lt Gen Afzal said while addressing a press conference.

According to Dawn, he added that the information regarding the dispatching of PPEs was, however, duly shared with the provincial governments. “Now the army is distributing the protective gear in the hospitals, and since then we have not received any complain.”

The NDMA chairperson said the authority had adequate stocks of protective equipment which could cater to the needs of doctors and patients for the next month.

He said initially Pakistan was dependent on foreign-made equipment but now except ventilators, everything else was being manufactured by local companies. “As a result of the local production of equipment, the cost of normal mask has dropped from Rs50 to Rs10 and N-95 mask is now available for Rs300 against its previous price of Rs2,000.”

Lt Gen Afzal said so far five tranches of equipment had been sent to provinces and a universal helpline 111-157-157 set up to receive complaints regarding unavailability of PPE and other material being used against the virus.

He said a quarantine centre established at Haji Camp in the capital was not being utilised as people of the area had demanded that such a centre should be away from populated areas.