“China-Pakistan Medical Corridor (CPMC) is a win-win cooperation for people’s livelihood, which is significantly important not only for Pakistan, but also for the Chinese medical industry,” Ashraf Nizami, the chairman of international relations, Pakistan Medical Association (PMA), and the president of Pakistan Medical Association, Lahore, said in an exclusive interview.
CPMC is jointly initiated by PMA and China Medical Association (CMA) to deepen bilateral medical cooperation and improve the health level of the Pakistani and Chinese people. Since the mechanism was launched, a number of events have been held to improve bilateral medical level covering the fields of obstetrics and gynecology, anesthesiology, ophthalmology, osteology and so on.
In a previous interview, Gwadar Pro also visited CMA and its spokesman said that: “Against the backdrop of COVID-19 sweeping the world, the importance and significance of CPMA has become increasingly prominent, it’s time to speak out for deeper medical cooperation between the two countries.”
PMA expressed the same desire as CMA. Nizami said: “CPMC, inspired by BRI and CPEC frames, is a historic event in the medical sector for the two countries. Once Pakistan and China have cooperation and solidarity in economic affairs, why don’t we extend them to cover the medical sector? We have to learn from each other in this field. Certainly, Pakistan is eager for all the expertise and the research that Chinese have got, so as we can improve national health level stably and efficiently. On the other hand, Chinese colleagues also saw unlimited potential in Pakistan’s medical industry, so they are taking a positive attitude towards bilateral cooperation.”
Regarding the reasons why Pakistan should strengthen communication with China in the medical industry, Prof. Nizami attributed it to three respects. He said: “The first and most important factor is that Pakistan and China are all-weather strategic partners and have a historical friendship basis. The deep friendship rooted in the people’s hearts of both countries has laid a foundation for medical cooperation which needs solid trust.”
“The second reason is that China has made great progress in science and research in the past two decades. Especially in the medical sector, China has surpassed Western countries in various fields, and walked in the forefront of the world,” he added.
Nizami said: “In addition, the facilitative policies under BRI and CPEC have ensured the construction of CPMC to be convenient and affordable. As Chinese president Xi Jinping said, no one can make progress in isolation.”
He emphasized again that CPMC is a win-win cooperation for people’s livelihood. He said: “China’s medical industry has been booming and reached great heights on a global scale. Pakistan with its 216 million people, developing medical industry, favorable policies and friendly people has provided a huge space for China to learn, invest and communicate. It is not only the Pakistanis who can benefit from CPMC, but also a great opportunity for our Chinese colleagues to get information, improve expertise, and share experiences mutually.”
“Finally, I must say that CPMC, the medical cooperation between Pakistan and China, between PMA and CMA, is a very positive sign which will certainly reflect a very positive impact on the patients, medical professions, medical practitioners, and health sciences of the two countries. And definitely, it will play an important and positive role under BRI in Asia and around the world,” Prof. Nizami said.
