ISLAMABAD,  22 NOV, 2020 : To aide national efforts towards capacity-building of human resource involved in disaster management, and exchange of trained resources to deal with natural and human-induced disasters, the Commission on Science and Technology for Sustainable Development in the South (COMSATS) is forming synergies with relevant bodies.

COMSATS’ flagship project, COMSATS Internet Services (CIS), and the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) of Government of Pakistan have entered into an agreement to support tele-health services through Resource Center housed at Isolation Hospital and Infectious Diseases Treatment Centre (IHITC) and COMSATS Telehealth (CTH) set-upby CIS.

On behalf of the Commission, the MOU was signed by Dr. S.M. Junaid Zaidi, Executive Director COMSATS while Muhammad Idrees Mehsud, Member DRR on behalf of NDMA, in a simple ceremony held at Prime Minister’s Office, in NDMA premises. Chairman NDMA, Lieutenant General Muhammad Afzal; Prof. Dr. Ghazna Khalid, Member of the Parliament and Member Task Force on COVID-19, Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of Pakistan; along with representatives from both sides were present on the occasion. The MoU is especially pertinent in the wake of current pandemic of COVID-19.

Operational since 2001, COMSATS Telehealth Programme has benefitted around 70,000 patients in 17 rural areas across Pakistan, in specialties like Dermatology, Gynecology, Antenatal care, ultrasounds and outpatient care. NDMA has been working to enhance disaster resilience in Pakistan and is the leading policy and coordination body for combating natural and human-induced disasters in Pakistan.