ISLAMABAD, Apr 1: Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Health Dr. Faisal Sultan Friday said that Pakistan under the leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan successfully fought war against COVID-19 and managed to bring the positivity cases down with the help of collective efforts of citizens.

Talking to a private news channel, he said that the overall cases are dipping, the number of patients is decreasing in country hospitals, adding, Pakistan with its smart lockdown strategy had tackled the pandemic waves successfully.

 “We overcome the COVID-19 crisis and emerged stronger. We learnt lessons and experiences. As life in the Pakistan has started to return to normal, ” he said.

  Dr Faisal thanked all field and NCOC teams for their continuous efforts to control the pandemic and protect the health and well being of all community members.

   He also lauded the response and cooperation shown by the community that helped in overcoming the crisis and reducing risks.

  Replying a question, he urged people over the age of 60 with risk factors such as high blood pressure or a weak heart to get booster shot against COVID-19 to reduce their risk of getting seriously ill.

He said that PTI-led government had establish a Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) similar to the Atlanta-based national public health institute in the United States, adding, it would cut down the need to create setups such as the National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC) and the National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC).

He added that this practice should come to an end now and there should be a permanent institution like the CDC Atlanta to deal with such emergencies and plan for future threats.

He said that government has also improved the health governing mechanism system, adding, in the initial period, there was also a shortage of protective equipment. But now gradually things have improved a lot.