Pakistan: Need to build medical infrastructure and reduce dependency on foreign aid, says PM Imran Khan

Amid coronavirus pandemic, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday stressed on the need of building its own healthcare infrastructure and underlined the need of independence for the country.

Speaking at COMSTECH exhibition in Islamabad, Khan said, "The coronavirus has brought to the fore that Pakistan needs to build its medical infrastructure and reduce dependency on foreign aid".

"We have a dependency syndrome; we don't have that self-belief, we didn’t progress towards the knowledge economy because we didn't spend on education and research. Pakistanis excel once they immigrate; why can't you create that system here?" Khan also said.

"We have to focus on building our medical infrastructure so that we are prepared for any such emergency situation in the future," he added.

COMSTECH is an Organisation of Islamic Cooperation's Standing Committee on Scientific and Technological Cooperation for the promotion and cooperation of science and technology activities among the OIC member states. 

Pakistan has a poor medical care system which is ill-equipped to deal with any major outbreak such as coronavirus. 

Meanwhile, coronavirus cases in the South Asian nation climbed to 16,817 while the death toll from the pandemic has reached 385.