Pakistan manufactures its own N-95 mask that will cost only Rs90: Fawad

ISLAMABAD (92 News) – Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry has said on Thursday that Pakistan has manufactured its own N-95 mask which will be costed only Rs90. Speaking at an event at COMSTECH, the minister said that Pakistan is producing its own sanitisers and disinfectants and is now capable of exporting them. “We will manufacture own ventilators soon,” he added. “We decided to manufacture face masks, hand sanitizers, and sanitising walk-through gates. The permission of export should be given in the form of producing the more quantity of products,” he said. The minister said the country is producing its own sanitisers and disinfectants today and is in position to export them. He added a committee was also set up to look into ways and means to manufacture Covid-19 testing kits. He also said Pakistan faced a shortage of hand sanitizers in the first ten days of the detection of the first two cases of the novel coronavirus in the country. He said seven types of ventilators designed by Pakistan Engineering Council are in clinical trial, while National University of Science and Technology has developed its own testing kit. Fawad Chaudhry further said private sector, especially textile sector of Faisalabad, is producing protective gears for doctors and heal workers, beyond our domestic consumption. Earlier, Fawad Chaudhry shared a list of 23 companies that were found involved in making sub-standard hand sanitizers. The minister took his twitter, sharing the list saying, “Dear all! As per PSQCA sample testing following 23 brands of Sanitizers are not in comformity with WHO standards, we have advised health departments to remove these brands from stores.”

Dear all! As per PSQCA sample testing following 23 brands of Sanitizers are not in comformity with WHO standards, we have advised health departments to remove these brands from stores. pic.twitter.com/Aj5gbSgIsD

— Ch Fawad Hussain (@fawadchaudhry) April 3, 2020

It is pertinent to mention here that the demand for sanitizers has sky-rocketed in recent weeks as people stock up on the commodity to protect themselves from the novel coronavirus. Fawad Chaudhry had last week asked the Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Board to sample sanitizers sold in the open market and compile a report on their quality.