BENGALURU: As the Covid-19 situation remains grim, the State Government is exploring the possibility of procuring drugs and other equipment from friendly nations.“The need of the hour is to explore possibilities of collaboration in the procurement of drugs, that are needed for critical treatments,” Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister and State Covid Task Force Chairman Dr C N Ashwath Narayan said while addressing a virtual meeting of “Global Innovation Alliance” partner countries, on Monday. The meeting was organised by the state Information Technology and Biotechnology Department.
The DyCM said the state government wants to have sophisticated, multi-speciality hospitals across the state and provide ICUs and other necessary healthcare services even in remote areas. “This is not possible without active global collaboration and partnerships,” he said and added that imposing lockdowns and simultaneously balancing the health, social and economic concerns was a huge challenge.
He explained various measures taken by the government to contain the Covid spread and to treat patients, and emphasised the need for collaboration to fight the pandemic During the interaction, the representatives from Israel, Japan, the USA, UK, Canada, Australia, South Korea, Switzerland, Denmark and other countries spoke about assistance being provided to India to fight the pandemic and shared experiences of Covid management in their countries, said a statement issued by the DyCM’s office.
South Korean Consul-General in Chennai Kwon Young-seup said they were establishing vaccine manufacturing units to address concerns of vaccine shortage globally. He asked the state government to help South Korean citizens who are finding it difficult to get hospital beds. While the Australian representative explained that they were providing medical supplies through the Ministry of External Affairs in Delhi, the German representative said they were partnering with Rotary Club (Karnataka) to set up beds and other facilities apart from setting up an oxygen plant in Bengaluru. Israel Consul- General Jonathan Zadka said Israel will help to set up three oxygen generation plants in India, of which two will be in Karnataka.