To this end, the government’s Specialised Healthcare Department issued a procurement tender for ventilators on an emergency basis but international and local suppliers refused to accept the offer. However, considering that the aforementioned countries are themselves struggling with the pandemic, manufacturers refused to supply the ventilators within a month. On the other hand, a Lahore-based company offered to supply Chinese-made ventilators to the Specialised Healthcare Department, but the offer was turned down. The Specialised Healthcare Department has also sent standard operating procedures (SOPs) to the management of all hospitals to ensure transparency in the procurement process. Despite that, our department advertised the procurement tender in the newspapers because we wanted more and more companies to participate in the bidding process,” he concluded.

Source: The Express Tribune April 13, 2020 02:03 UTC