ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to highlight the healthcare issues raised by COVID-19 in Pakistan. Initially, the Government of Pakistan was incapable of coping with the outbreak and called out foreign aid such as testing kits, face masks, personal protective equipment. Moreover, briskly increasing cases, infringement of preventive measures, and misinformation through different media platforms further worsened the situation and burdened the local healthcare system. In this regard, the Government Officials started brainstorming about herd immunity. However, the weak healthcare infrastructure could not bear the three-quarters of the immuno-compromised public to build immunity to halt the virus transmission. Besides, limited testing capacity also led to missing data and the total number of confirmed cases. The first wave of the outbreak raised questions regarding the Government’s capability to cope with healthcare emergencies. Despite, devastating results in the previous episode, the second outbreak of COVID-19 also had a weak medical infrastructure, challenging the current government’s healthcare policies. Thus, the current situation demands a responsible approach and measures to cope with increasing healthcare challenges. The crucial lesson to learn from struggles is that our dilapidated and shabby healthcare system is a finite source. Although developing countries has limited sources; they can make better use of them by showing a disciplined, clear, tangible, swift, comprehensive, rational and collective response.
