ISLAMABAD – As proposed by Pakistan, a Video Conference of SAARC (SouthAsian Association for Regional Cooperation) Member States was being held onThursday (April 23, 2020) to discuss the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Special Assistant to the Prime Minister for Health Dr Zafar Mirza will leadthe Pakistan delegation.
Besides Ministers/ Senior Officials, the meeting will be attended bySecretary General SAARC, Esala Ruwan Weerakon, a Foreign Office statementissued here said.
The virtual meeting takes forward Pakistan’s earlier initiative to host theSAARC Health Ministers meeting, which has assumed urgency in view of theCOVID-19 pandemic.
In addition to exchanging updates on the status of national containmentefforts, the Conference will deliberate on ways to promote deepercooperation to combat the crisis, including inter alia throughstrengthening disease surveillance, sharing best practices, buildingnational capacities, coordinating research efforts and promoting regionaland international linkages, the statement added.
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High population densities and fragile health systems render South Asia,which is home to one-fifth of humanity, vulnerable to the pandemic.
Closer coordination among regional countries through utilization of allavailable institutional mechanisms, including the SAARC platform, remainsimportant for combating the disease.
The Video Conference was part of Pakistan’s efforts to foster greatercooperation at the regional level to effectively overcome the public healthcrisis, and mitigate its socio-economic impact, the statement concluded.
