A grave tragedy
THE loss of thousands of lives in a devastating earthquake that struck Turkiye and neighbouring Syria early on Monday has cast a dark pall over this week. As rescuers make frantic efforts to retrieve survivors from under the rubble of thousands of collapsed buildings, the images and reports pouring in from the affected areas tell a story of grave human tragedy.
The earthquake was the most powerful in the world recorded by the US Geological Survey since August 2021 and the deadliest in Turkiye since 1999. Following the Monday quake, there have also been multiple smaller earthquakes and aftershocks of varying magnitude.
As the people of Turkiye and Syria continue searching for their loved ones amidst the destruction caused by this natural disaster, Pakistan stands with them in this difficult hour.
Islamabad despatched the first relief flight to Turkiye on the night of Feb 6 with rescue experts, sniffer dogs, search equipment, a medical team comprising army doctors, nursing staff and technicians, and a 30-bedded mobile hospital, tents and blankets.
Another 51-member team was dispatched to Istanbul on Tuesday, comprising doctors, paramedics, and rescue workers.
Another plane carrying medicines and other essential items is also expected to fly out soon, according to the prime minister. It is hoped that Pakistan continues to send as many personnel and relief goods as needed to both countries. Syria, in particular, has been devastated by more than a decade of war.
It is likely to have a much greater need for help getting back up on its feet, and Pakistan has a moral responsibility to offer and ensure as much assistance as possible.
It is unclear at the moment if the prime minister’s relief fund for Turkiye, to which the federal cabinet has also contributed a month’s salary, is to be utilised to assist Syria as well. If not, this should be rectified at the earliest.
If need be, groups of volunteers and local NGOs who are familiar with disaster response work can also be assisted in travelling to the affected regions to help in relief efforts.
However, such arrangements must be made in close coordination with the governments of Syria and Turkiye to avoid disturbing their own rescue and relief efforts.
The weather in the affected region has been particularly unrelenting, with snow, forbidding cold and rainfall making the job of extricating survivors from collapsed buildings much more difficult than it would otherwise have been.
Snowfall has blocked roads and crippled the communications infrastructure in many places, making it challenging to move rescue teams to affected areas. The affected cities are also experiencing electricity, internet and gas outages due to damage to the utility infrastructure.
Given these conditions, mounting a successful rescue and relief operation will be no mean feat.
Published in Dawn, February 8th, 2023
Pharma shutdown
IN the midst of an economic and political maelstrom, a fresh crisis threatens the availability of drugs in the market, as around 40 pharmaceutical firms have warned that they may halt production within a week due to a number of compounding factors. The key reason behind this crisis is the country’s dire financial situation, which has now begun to affect even the basic necessities of life, piling further misery on that hapless creature known as the common man. In a communication sent to the relevant state officials, including the health ministry and the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan, the pharma manufacturers say they are unable to import raw material for drugs, while due to their inability to raise medicine prices, they are facing severe issues in meeting the cost of production. Industry leaders say dollars are not available, containers are not being cleared while the rupee’s freefall against the dollar has made production and transportation costs shoot up. These are familiar plaints emerging from all sectors; yet with the pharma industry, the issue becomes particularly sensitive, and can mean the difference between life and death. Health officials have promised to prevent a shortage of medicines, and it is hoped these assurances are translated into action with alacrity.
This is not the first time the threat of a medicine shortage has emerged. In fact, this crisis has been brewing for several months. Last year, there was a shortage of several essential drugs, as well as of paracetamol brand Panadol, for mostly the same reasons. Although the economic crisis is acute, the state needs to include the pharmaceutical industry amongst those sectors that must have priority access to dollars, while the shipments waiting at ports need to be cleared immediately. In the longer run, to prevent these cyclical crises, deregulation of drug prices, apart from those of life-saving drugs, must be considered. While profiteering cannot be allowed, it is also true that manufacturers cannot be expected to produce medicines at a loss. High drug prices are problematic, but non-availability is equally troubling. And while the removal of subsidies may be what the IMF wants, efforts need to be made by the state to provide highly subsidised or even free quality medicines through government hospitals to the poorest and most vulnerable segments, especially considering the effects of the merciless inflationary storm.
Published in Dawn, February 8th, 2023
PSL season
THE exhibition match between Quetta Gladiators and Peshawar Zalmi at Quetta’s Bugti Stadium has set the tone for the upcoming Pakistan Super League. Iftikhar Ahmed’s brilliant batting in a game which the Gladiators won by three runs has left fans wanting more. Next week, their wait will be over when the eighth season of the country’s marquee cricket league opens in Multan, with defending champions Lahore Qalandars taking on Multan Sultans.
When the final is played in Lahore on March 19, it will mark the culmination of the first full PSL in Pakistan, with matches at four venues. Karachi and Rawalpindi are the other two, but fans in Quetta will have to wait till at least the next edition for the extravaganza to come to town. Still, the exhibition match was a step towards cricket revival in the city.
Pakistan’s stars, including the now retired Shahid Afridi and current skipper Babar Azam, lit up the Bugti Stadium but it was the Gladiators’ Iftikhar who stole the show, hitting six sixes in a single over in front of 20,000 fans. It will be more serious business next time with the title on the line.
PSL has provided a launching pad for several of the team’s current stars, and for them, hitting top form will be key. A busy calendar awaits them after PSL with a home series against New Zealand before the tour of Sri Lanka. The Asia Cup, scheduled to be hosted in Pakistan but the venue for which will be confirmed later, is set for September before the ODI World Cup. That’s the title on which most will focus, but PSL’s top performers will need to make a smooth transition from the T20 format to the 50-over one. PSL contributed to Pakistan’s last world title, the Champions Trophy in 2017, and the hope is that this year’s edition can help the team win the ODI World Cup for the first time since 1992.
Published in Dawn, February 8th, 2023