Vaccines must be distributed with equity

China and five South Asian countries, including Bangladesh, have opposed the idea of vaccine nationalism while calling for distribution of vaccine under the principles of equity and justice.

"The foreign ministers agreed that vaccines, as a key weapon to defeat Covid-19, should be distributed in accordance with the principles of equity and justice," said the foreign ministers of Bangladesh, China, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Nepal in a joint statement issued yesterday, following a video conference on Tuesday.

China expressed its readiness to provide continued medical supplies and technical assistance to the participating countries to the best of its ability.

At the video conference, the foreign ministers agreed to closely follow the development of the pandemic in India, which recently turned severe with about 350,000 new Covid-19 cases being detected daily. They expressed willingness to provide the necessary support through respective channels in consultation with India.

Chinese State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Afghanistan acting Foreign Minister Mirwais Nab, Bangladesh Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen, Nepal Foreign Minister Pradeep Kumar Gyawali, Pakistan Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi and Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena participated in Tuesday's conference.

The conference is part of an initiative by China called "China-South Asia Platform for Covid-19 Consultation, Cooperation, and Post-pandemic Economic Recovery".

The initiative was first taken in November last year and meetings were subsequently held at directors general and foreign secretaries levels before Tuesday foreign minister-level conference.

In the spirit of openness, inclusiveness and win-win cooperation, the six countries welcomed active participation of other countries in the region.

At the conference, China announced its decision to establish a "China-South Asian Countries Emergency Supplies Reserve", "China-South Asian Countries Poverty Alleviation and Cooperative Development Center" and hold a "China-South Asian Countries E-commerce Cooperation Forum on Poverty Alleviation in Rural Areas" in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

The foreign ministers said "vaccine nationalism" will hinder the global efforts to defeat Covid-19 and spoke for strengthening cooperation to track Covid-19 mutation closely. They stressed that countries should step up solidarity and cooperation to win final victory over Covid-19.

They expressed firm support for WHO's due role in the global cooperation against Covid-19 and acknowledged that tracing the origin of the virus is a matter of science and a global mission.

China said it would work on making the vaccines a global public good, and carry out continued vaccine cooperation with the participating countries in a flexible manner, including co-production of vaccines.

The foreign ministers agreed to deepen cooperation in the Belt and Road Initiative; open their borders, closed under the premise of pandemic prevention and control, for smooth trade; keep the industrial and supply chains stable and secure; and give a stronger boost to economic recovery.

The foreign ministers stressed upon the importance of strengthening cooperation in poverty reduction, food security, and other non-traditional security fields to protect the livelihood of people with special focus on the most vulnerable groups.

To facilitate personnel exchanges against the backdrop of Covid-19, they agreed to discuss the possibility of mutual recognition of digital "health codes".