ISLAMABAD:Minister for Science and Technology Syed Shibli Faraz on Monday apprised the National Assembly that eight industrial grade versions of ventilators have been devised by both public and private sector.
In response to various questions during Question Hour, the minister said two out of eight ventilators were devised by National University of Science and Technology, (NUST) and National University of Technology (NUTECH), organizations working under the aegis of Ministry of Science and Technology.
He said eight industrial grade versions of ventilators, the final version of i-live Vent prepared by Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) has been provided to PAEC Hospital, Islamabad for utilization at their own level.
Large scale production of ventilators would be started after registration and approval by Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) and Pakistan Engineer Council ((PEC).
The minister said Ministry of Science and Technology, Ministry of National Health Services Regulations and Coordination had signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to promote local manufacturing of medical devices and Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC) has been notified by DRAP to carry out technical performance evaluation of locally manufactured medical devices prior to DRAP registration.
To another question, the minister said Pakistan Council of Research of Water Resources (PCRWR) was undertaking the periodic water quality monitoring of major cities of Pakistan including Bahawalpur since 2001.
The monitoring of Bahawalpur city in 2020 had revealed that 24 sources (76%) were unsafe for drinking purpose.
The major contaminants of the drinking water were arsenic (28%), iron (36%), fluoride and bacteria (20%). Arsenic was the health concerning chemical contaminant detected in 7 of the 24 groundwater of Bahawalpur city, he said.
He said long term consumption of arsenic beyond the safe level may result in various health implications.
In 2020, there was some improvement in drinking water quality due to installation of filtration plants, he said.
The minister said the water quality monitoring (2020-21) of other 28 cities of the country had revealed the prevalence of bacteriological contamination (39%) followed by arsenic (8%), nitrate (4%), fluoride (4%) etc.
Overall, 38% of the monitored water sources were found safe for drinking in 29 main cities, he said.
He said water was a provincial matter after 18th constitutional amendment. However, the periodic water quality monitoring reports of PCRWR were published and shared with the Federal Authorities and Provincial and local Governments for undertaking improvement measures at their end, he said.
The minister said Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab governments had approved water policy and water act in their respective provinces. Under, the act, it was mandatory to check water once in year, he added.