UNITED STATES: World Health Organisation (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said debt relief was essential for developing countries in order to enable them to take care of their people and avoid economic collapse in the wake of coronavirus pandemic.

Addressing a virtual news conference in Geneva, he voiced deep concern about the rapid escalation and global spread of COVID-19 cases, which has now reached 205 countries and territories.

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On Apr 1, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi had urged the international community to restructure the debts of third world countries to help them fight the coronavirus pandemic.

He had said the third world countries, having limited resources and fragile health care systems, needed support.

Shah Mahmood Qureshi had said the resources being spent on debt servicing and payment of interest could be utilized by them on saving lives and improving their health care systems.

He had said coronavirus was a challenge which never before witnessed by world.