Mirza urges SAARC members to extend cooperation in fight against COVID-19

ISLAMABAD, Apr 23 (APP):Special Assistant to the Prime Minister for Health Dr Zafar Mirza on Thursday urged all member countries of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) to extend cooperation for jointly combating the COVID-19 pandemic.

Chairing the SAARC Health Ministers’ video conference on the coronavirus hosted by Pakistan, Dr Zafar Mirza shared the experiences dealing with the COVID-19 challenge and innovative steps taken by Pakistan in the fight against coronavirus.

SAARC Secretary General, Esala Ruwan Weerakoon participated in the Conference attended the conference. Mrs. Pavithra Wanniarachchi, Minister for Health and Indigenous Medical Services of Sri Lanka; Nabraj Raut, State Minister for Health and Population of Nepal; Dr. Wahid Majrooh, Deputy Minister for Healthcare Services of Afghanistan; Dr. Ugen Dophu, Secretary Health of Bhutan, Prof. Dr. Abul Kalam Azad, Director General of Health Services of Bangladesh; Ms. Maimoona Aboobakuru, Director General of Public Health of Maldives; and Prof. Rajiv Garg, Director General of Health Services of India led their respective delegations.

Issues including real-time sharing of information and clinical data, capacity building and training of medical and paramedical staff, supply of medicines and medical equipment, research coordination and enhancing cooperation with front line international organizations including the WHO came under discussion.

Dr Zafar Mirza informed the member states about Pakistan’s National Action Plan and National Coordination Committee for making effective strategies and implementation in the country, covering all aspects of COVID-19 pandemic.
He said Pakistan had been working on the smart lockdown strategy to effectively fight the coronavirus along with protecting the economy from negative effects of the prevailing situation.

He said the whole world was affected from the disease with having long-lasting effects. He suggested to make functional of the member states’ technical committee on health under the SAARC charter.

Dr Mirza discussed various aspects related to COVID-19, including awareness, risk assessment, diagnostics facilities, isolation and quarantine methods, social distancing, patients treatment and safety of healthcare providers.
All heads of delegations presented their country situations and efforts to contain the outbreak at national levels.

Proposals to fast-track creation of linkages among medical universities, academia and research institutions came under review.

During the meeting, Pakistan proposed greater coordination among health authorities of SAARC member states in the context of combating the pandemic and in this regard, suggested activating the SAARC Technical Committee on Health and Population Activities. It was agreed to enhance cooperation in the health sector, particularly in the context of efforts to combat the virus at the regional level.

The Health Ministers’ Video Conference was a reaffirmation of Pakistan’s commitment to the SAARC process and its efforts to forge closer cooperation among Member States in situations such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

All member states and the SAARC Secretary General appreciated Pakistan’s timely initiative of organizing the Video Conference.