Pakistan participated in the 2nd Global COVID-19 Summit co-hosted virtually by the United States, Belize, Germany, Indonesia, and Senegal.
Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari led the Pakistan team at the summit.
Speaking at the second session of the Summit ‘Vaccinate the World- Getting Vaccines to the Most Vulnerable’, Pakistan foreign minister underscored that any approach to deal with pandemic must be grounded firmly in scientific evidence and logic; responses, monitoring and evaluation should be guided by established methods of epidemiology and community medicine.
he added that ur responses must be customized to the specific and peculiar needs of our societies.” Every country and region will have to devise its own strategy. One-size-fits-all approach cannot be used to battle such pandemics. By way of example, China’s dynamic Zero-COVID approach, rooted in China’s realities, was particularly successful in eliminating the virus, saving countless lives and swift economic recovery.”
Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto stressed that international cooperation and coordination was of fundamental importance to the success of national efforts. Health security, especially in times of pandemic, was indivisible. Microorganisms did not recognize Nation-States. “For them, we were all the same. To counter them, we must act as one,” he stressed.
The Summit garnered new financial commitments totaling $3.2 billion not yet announced, above and beyond pledges made to date in 2022. This includes nearly $2.5 billion for COVID-19 and related response activities and $712 million in new commitments toward a new pandemic preparedness and global health security fund at the World Bank.
United States committed an additional $200 million to the pandemic preparedness and global health security financial fund at the World Bank in 2022, bringing the U.S. total pledge to this fund to $450 million.
The Foreign Minister appreciated that the U.S. was generous in providing 62 million vaccines to Pakistan, and China, from the outset, supported us tremendously. Pakistan, too, provided COVID-related assistance to countries that needed it, he said.
Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari emphasised the importance of developing synergies with specialized agencies such as WHO, UNICEF, GAVI and COVAX to battle the scourge. It was reiterated that Pakistan will continue to work closely with those institutions to bolster its national response.
To collectively fight this menace, Foreign Minister stressed that “we should avoid finger-pointing and politicking, both at national and international levels, as well as profiteering and rumour-mongering, especially when it related to undermining the scientific evidence and hard data.”
He emphasized that the fight against COVID must promote international cooperation and solidarity. It has been evidently clear in the last two years that our survival hinges on our ability to work together and platforms like these should help forge greater unity among humanity so that the battle against this menace can be won decisively.