Pakistan has finally okayed its first indigenously developed intensive care unit ventilator as the country recorded the highest number of deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic.
On Wednesday, the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan approved the equipment – which has been critical to saving lives since the coronavirus outbreak in late 2019.
Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission, a premier scientific body, has developed the ventilator named as i-Live, a Radio Pakistan report said Wednesday.
The same day Pakistan’s the Ministry of National Health Services confirmed that a single-day death toll from the infectious disease reached 201 amid a deadly third wave of the pandemic that has seen the ventilator occupancy touch 94 percent mark in the second largest city Lahore.
Pakistani officials performing coronavirus tests, Image: National Institute of Health
Pakistan has reported more than 810,231 confirmed Covid-19 cases and 17,530 deaths. In a 24-hour cycle, this week the country registered 5,292 new COVID-19 cases.
Oxygen supplies have been a major issue in neighboring issues, which is one of the most direly affected countries during the pandemic with daily cases crossing 300,000 grim statistic every single day in the last week and deaths crossing 200,000.
Medical experts at PAEC hospital in Islamabad also helped the Commission’s effort to develop the ventilator locally.
“Besides passing through all internal reviews and testing, the ‘i-Live’ ventilator also successfully passed the independent reviews and testing conducted throughout the development lifecycle by the evaluation team from Pakistan Innovation and Technology Centre and the Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC),” the PAEC said, according to Radio Pakistan.
The PAEC developed ventilator, Image Courtesy Radio Pakistan
The ventilator was clinically tested at Jinnah Hospital in Lahore under the supervision of senior doctors, biomedical engineers, and medical researchers, the statement said.
“The ventilator successfully passed all stages of engineering evaluation and medical validation.”
According to Dawn newspaper, a PAEC spokesperson Shahid Riaz Khan said the ventilator “i-Live” would now be manufactured and supplied by PAEC to hospitals.
“This is a giant leap towards self-reliance in designing and manufacturing of life-saving equipment,” he said.
An engineer examining ventilators, Image: Pakistan Ministry of Defense Production
The Dawn newspaper report cited Minister for Science and Technology Senator Shibli Faraz who said his ministry would expedite the registration of ventilators with DRAP to ensure their timely availability for induction in the healthcare system as well as export.
According to the report, another ventilator — Pak Vent-1 which was developed by Nescom — has been cleared by the PEC and is awaiting approval from the Drug Regulatory Authority.
