‘Only Two Old Ventilators, No Medical Supplies’: People In Gilgit-Baltistan Suffer Amid Coronavirus Outbreak

In a worrying development, the people in the Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan occupied Kashmir are facing severe threats due to lack of medical facilities and food shortages, reports ANI.

The region has already reported over 800 cases but faces severe lack of medical infrastructure to deal with the crisis. As per report, Gilgit-Baltistan has only two old model ventilators and the region has not received any medical aid and supplies from the Pakistani government to counter the grave situation.

Dr Amjad Ayub Mirza, a human rights activist from PoK tweeted, "Only two ventilators available in Gilgit-Baltistan and Pakistan and China have started the construction of USD 14 billion Diamer-Basha Dam today. This clearly shows that the Pakistani military or civil governments do not care about our people."

Also, there is no proper testing facility in the PoK, nor do they have doctors who are trained in coronavirus tests and testing kits.

“They (government) receive funds and donations, but they use those funds for their own purpose and not for the welfare of people. However, they do not realise that it is the people who have mandated them to power and position. I hereby request the authorities to pay attention to this region, which was already deprived of rights. Now with coronavirus, the unemployment has grown massively,” said Mohammad Bakar Mehedi, a lawyer based in Astore.

Notably, earlier Kashmiri political activists had accused Pakistan of shifting coronavirus affected people from its most populous province, Punjab, and the rest of the country to Mirpur city in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) and Gilgit Baltistan.