Bangladesh
Sheikh Hasina | COVID-19 PM calls for reaching a global treaty on tackling future pandemics
Own Correspondent, Dhaka, May 23: Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has called upon the world community to work together to reach an "pandemic treaty" to provide an inclusive and equitable response to future pandemics.
"We must work to reach an pandemic treaty in order to provide an inclusive and equitable response to future pandemics," she said in a video statement broadcast at the high-level session of the 75th World Health Assembly on Sunday.
The assembly is being held in Switzerland's Geneva from May 22-28. This is the first in-person health rally since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Sheikh Hasina said that they have not been able to ensure a lasting solution to the situation by keeping millions of people out of the vaccination effort. In this context, she said, "developing countries like Bangladesh need to share technology and technical knowledge to increase vaccine production."
The Prime Minister said the Covid-19 pandemic is still having a huge impact on lives and livelihoods around the world. She said her government in Bangladesh has been able to tackle the pandemic threat by coordinating healthcare, financial and social security systems.
Sheikh Hasina said, "We have announced 28 stimulus packages at a cost of USD 23 billion, which is about 6.3 percent of our GDP. We have provided cash and other assistance to about 40 million people at risk. We have provided free vaccines to our people."
The Prime Minister reiterated that Bangladesh has been able to control the pandemic in the most densely populated refugee camps for the Rohingyas who were forcibly displaced from Myanmar. "My government has allocated USD 1.61 billion from our national budget to procure vaccines," she said.
The Prime Minister thanked the development partners of Bangladesh for donating the Covid-19 vaccine through Covax and said that 100 percent of the population has already been vaccinated as per our target. "We are grateful for the dedicated work of our frontline service providers," she said.
"We believe that vaccines should be considered as a global commodity," she said, referring to Bangladesh's efforts to side with neighbouring countries by sending medicine, PPE and healthcare workers.
The Prime Minister said the world community must pay more attention to the impact of climate change on the strain of the disease. Mentioning that Bangladesh is ready to cooperate in medical research including neglected summer diseases, she said that anti-microbial resistance needs to be tackled in a coordinated manner.
