CPEC to open new avenues for health cooperation

China has recently enhanced its support to Pakistan in health-care sector to control COVID-19 epidemic, Gwadar Pro reported.
“This is going to create a great image of China as till now it has mainly invested in energy sector and a lot can be done in Medical Education and Medical Tourism,” said Dr Muhammad Shahbaz who had initiated the conception of Health Corridor in 2017.
According to the report, later cooperation between Chinese and Pakistani institutes was initiated leading to the realization of the healthcare goals.
Health Corridor establishes telemedicine, virtual classrooms. Meanwhile, this healthcare project focused on sharing medical data and experience, doctors training. In addition, several mechanisms were built, such as Belt & Road Health Fund, Belt & Road Medical Force (BRMF), Silk Road Higher Medical Education forum (SRHMEF) and connectivity via Medical Tourism (BRM).
As a surgeon and PhD scholar at Shandong University, and having spent more than a decade in China as a medical student, he hopes that the CPEC will also bring about healthcare facilities and infrastructure cooperation in Pakistan and China. “I have re-named it the CPHC – the China Pakistan Health Corridor or simply ‘The Health Corridor’,” he said.
He highly praised the actions and measures that Chinese government taken to cope with pandemic. “COVID-19 pandemic has brought huge opportunity for the BRI countries specially China and Pakistan for better cooperation.
Frequent online meetings between the two sides are very important. Chinese experts can train Pakistani doctors in order to better combat the pandemic. Data sharing is very important.
Pakistani hospitals should be digitalized. Big Data centres can be established in top 20 hospitals in the first stage, tracking and keeping record of patients will be easy in this way. Telemedicine joint sessions can be held frequently,” he added.
Muhammad also mentioned the importance that Pakistan cooperates with China in medical sector. Pakistan has conceived its medical system from Britain.
The Association of Physicians of Pakistani Descent of North America (APPNA) is highly respectable and well recognized in western countries. “The cooperation will create opportunities for private sector, meanwhile, friendship between both countries public will be furtherly enhanced,” he said.
Muhammad said, China has progressed in medical field specially for the technology. As a developing country, Pakistan lacks resources to establish the medical corridor. The potential of cooperation with China is huge.
Regarding the diagnostic labs and medical treatment are expensive in Pakistan, medical cooperation will reduce the burden on Pakistan medical system.
Cooperation with Chinese medical companies will create a healthy competition and common people will have access to inexpensive facilities, he added.