COVID-19 vaccine must be viewed as public good, available to all: PM Imran
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday said that covid-19 vaccine must be viewed as a public good, which should be affordable and available to all.
Addressing 20th SCO Council of Heads of State video conference from Islamabad, he said this while presenting his six proposals in galvanizing the Shanghai Cooperation Organization members’ mutually beneficial result-orientated efforts through the SCO platforms.
The prime minister also proposed that we should create an SCO knowledge bank of best practices to fight covid-19 to guide us through the second wave and beyond.
“We should work out on strategy as an SCO action plan to mitigate the adverse effects of covid-19 on the economy and it should be short-term, medium and long term including by prioratisation of SCO unified framework for emergency preparations developed in consultation with the WHO.
“We should call for more measures by G-20 to meet challenges like climate change, wipening inequality within and among nations, hunger, illicit movement of money from developing world through offshore bank accounts to the developed world.
“We should formulate a multiyear SCO youth strategy with focus on building partnership among educational institutions. We should develop SCO partnership in technology, offer scholarships and exchange programmes for youth,” he said.
Under the circumstances, the imperative of common approaches to limit the spread of the infectious disease, reduce the effects and develop potential remedies had increased manifold, he said. He said the world should jointly work for eradication of the covid disease.
“Global harmony is undermined by the rising geopolitical tensions, unilateralism and isolationalism. Pakistan always supported political settlement of Afghan crisis as there’s no military solution to this. The Afghan parties must seize the opportunity of the ongoing peace efforts,” he said.
PM Imran Khan said more than five crore people had been affected from coronavirus. Economy of the whole world has gone sluggish, he maintained.
“We appreciate China’s measures against coronavirus. Pakistan and China are jointly working for covid vaccine development,” he said.
Imran Khan said spreading hatred in the name of religion should be declared illegal. It was imperative that the willful propagation and incitement to hate should be universally declared illegal, he said. The SCO members should call for respect of all religions, he demanded.
He also said that debt relief should be provided to the underdeveloped countries and we must oppose illicit financial flows from developing countries and efforts must be made to bring back the assets of the nation.
