Conclude “Pandemic Treaty” for inclusive future response: PM to global community
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today (May 22, 2022) urged the global community to work towards concluding the "Pandemic Treaty" for an inclusive and equitable response to future pandemics.
"We must work towards concluding the Pandemic Treaty for an inclusive and equitable response to future pandemics," she said in a video statement broadcasted at the High-level Segment in the 75th World Health Assembly today (May 22, 2022).
The assembly is being held in Geneva, Switzerland, from May 22-28, 2022. It is the first in-person Health Assembly since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Sheikh Hasina said a sustainable recovery cannot be ensured by leaving millions behind in the vaccination efforts.
In this connection, she said, "Technology and technical know-how need to be shared to scale up vaccine production in developing countries like Bangladesh."
The Covid-19 pandemic is still having huge impacts on lives and livelihoods around the world, the prime minister also said.
In Bangladesh, she said, her government has managed to tackle its threats through a combination of healthcare, fiscal and social safety measures.
"We announced 28 stimulus packages worth 23 billion US dollars, which is about 6.3% of our GDP. We provided cash and other assistance to nearly 40 million vulnerable people. We provided vaccines to our people free of cost," she said.
The premier reiterated that they managed to contain the pandemic in the most densely populated camps for Myanmar's forcibly displaced Rohingyas.
"My government allocated 1.61 billion US dollars for procuring vaccines from our national budget," she stated.
The prime minister thanked Bangladesh's development partners for providing Covid-19 vaccines, including through COVAX and said over 100% of the target population has already been vaccinated.
Bangladesh tried to stand by its neighbouring countries with medicines, PPEs and healthcare workers, she said adding, "We believe that vaccines should be treated as global public goods."
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