Minister of Health calls for fair distribution of Corona vaccines between developing and developed countries

The World Health Assembly continues the work of the seventy-fourth session virtually in Geneva and will continue until the first of next June

“The grave challenges resulting from the outbreak of the Corona pandemic, as well as the existing regional and international problems, make it imperative for us to uphold the principle of international cooperation and solidarity to face these challenges more than ever before,” Minister of Health Dr. Hassan Al-Ghobash said in a speech during the session.

The Minister of Health called for the application of the principle of fairness in the distribution of Covid 19 vaccines between developing and developed countries alike. He also called for increased assistance and capacity-building for developing countries in facing the enormous financial challenges related to the provision and distribution of these vaccines.

He pointed out that Syria is facing the Corona epidemic today with all its available capabilities. Health workers continue their work with all sincerity and dedication in providing health services throughout the country. They are exerting  their utmost efforts  in light of a difficult reality as a result of the repercussions of the war that resulted in the destruction of a large part of the health infrastructure in addition to the repercussions of the unilateral Western coercive economic measures imposed on Syria, which prevent the arrival of quality medicines, equipment and medical supplies into the country.

Minister Al-Ghobash stressed the importance of implementing the decisions of the World Health Assembly on health conditions in the occupied Palestinian territories and the occupied Syrian Golan. He highlighted the importance of commitment to the mandate given to WHO in providing protection and providing humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people and the Syrian citizens under occupation.

The Assembly’s 194 member states, including Syria, represented by a delegation headed by Minister Al-Ghobash, are proposing their plans to respond to the Covid 19 pandemic, especially with regard to supporting medical analysis laboratories, tracking the implementation of immunization plans against the virus and the impact of its spread in health systems in various countries and strengthening the application of the primary health care program.

Representatives of the Assembly’s member states, international organizations, bodies and donors will also discuss the organizational items related to the Assembly’s work and the program budget for the years 2022-2023.

It is noteworthy that the World Health Assembly is the highest decision-making body in WHO. It meets once a year with the participation of delegations from all its member states. Its main function is to define the organization’s policies, appoint its director general and monitor its financial policies.

Inas Abdulkareem