Caretaker Federal Minister for Health, Dr Nadeem Jan, on ‘International Day of Epidemic Preparedness’ stressed the importance of collaborative efforts and said that Pakistan would play its leading part in strengthening health emergency systems of poor countries by hosting its first global health security Summit.
Talking to a Private news channel, the minister for health said that the ‘Global Health Security Summit’ will be held on January 10 and 11 in the federal capital of Pakistan, adding that Pakistan will finalize its strategic road map to tackle health emergencies and epidemics in the country effectively. Holding the summit will be proof that Pakistan will play a vital role in the health sector and protect people from global epidemics, he mentioned.
The minister highlighted that ongoing efforts will improve the availability of medicines, resources, and infrastructure and increase production. He replied that Pakistan is ready to contribute to all such endeavours and initiatives at relevant UN and WHO platforms. He added, “We need to develop countries that should be prioritized in terms of equitable distribution of vaccines and medicines and building their fiscal space to combat the pandemics,” he added. He said that soon Pakistan would also establish a ‘global pandemic financial facilities forum’ to provide equal opportunities and distribute similar resources to low-income countries for handling epidemics.
He assured that this international summit would give a positive image of Pakistan globally, adding that the importance of collaborative efforts in addressing health challenges, improving health systems’ performance, and fostering cooperation to mitigate climate change impacts on health globally is a need of the hour.