Islamabad, May 29: Pakistan today dispatched 50,000
dollars worth of medicine and equipment China to help fight
the deadly Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) virus.
China is the world's worst-hit country from SARS,
reporting more than 5,300 infections and nearly 325 deaths.
Chinese ambassador Zhang Chunxiang saw off a plane
carrying the aid from the Pakistan Airforce base outside
Islamabad.
Zhang thanked Islamabad for its support, saying he was
glad that Pakistan remained free of SARS, a Pneumonia like
disease.
Fears in Pakistan that its under-resourced health system
would be unable to cope with SARS infections have kept its
seasonal border with China closed.
The crossing at Khunjerab Pass, between northern Pakistan
and China's Xinjiang province, normally opens May 1 each year
for the summer and autumn.
But Pakistan has postponed the opening indefinitely, with
health officials saying earlier this week that detection
equipment and isolation facilities at the border post were
still not adequate.
Worldwide 746 people have died from SARS and more
than 8,000 people are infected.
Bureau Report
