Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) has reportedly approved the use of passive immunization technique to treat COVID-19 patients in the country.
Dr. Tahir Shamsi, head of the National Institute of Blood Diseases (NIBD) Karachi, has actively advocated for employing passive immunization technique to treat Coronavirus patients since the first case of the disease was reported in Pakistan.
The federal government is expected to announce the decision tomorrow.
Initially, COVID-19 patients will be treated at NIBD Karachi, LUMHS Jamshoro, and LUMS Medical University Lahore.
Moreover, the government has devised a protocol with consultation from the National Bioethics Committee (NBC) for treating COVID-19 patients using passive immunization.
Under the NBC sanctioned protocol, patients, who make a complete recovery from COVID-19, will be bound to donate their blood to treat other patients.
DRAP officials have also recommended the federal government to provide them a list of nearly 570 patients who have completely recovered from Coronavirus. This way, doctors from the designated centers would collect their blood and start using passive immunization techniques.
Ventilators and Chloroquine
Besides passive immunization technique, DRAP has approved the local production of ventilators after a comprehensive technical evaluation.
DRAP has also approved the manufacturing of the ingredients used to make chloroquine in Pakistan. Successful clinical trials at DRAP have found chloroquine to be effective against COVID-19.
While chloroquine will be manufactured in Pakistan after nearly a decade, ventilators will be manufactured in the country for the first time.
