RIAYDH, (APP – UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News – 28th Apr, 2024) Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday while calling the global inequity in the health sector ‘the first and foremost problem’ called for bridging the growing gap between the Global South and the Global North.
Expressing his views at a session of the World Economic Forum (WEF) on global health, the prime minister said that the Covid-19 pandemic has revealed the existing gaps in many between the Global North and Global South in terms of provision of health facilities and distribution. of vaccines.
He said the issue of climate change has also completely changed the landscape.
Pakistan is not responsible for any emissions in the world, he said, adding but by the year 2022, it will witness the worst climate that will cause floods that will further destroy infrastructure and buildings and because of this, they will have to spend billion rupees to rehabilitate those affected. people.
Chief Minister Shehbaz said that for rehabilitation efforts, they are asking for expensive loans. “Can it be done in a developing country like Pakistan?” he asked and observed that for the provision of health facilities, a developing country like Pakistan needs resources.
“The yawning gap between the Global South and the Global North needs to be bridged,” he stressed.
Sharing his personal experiences, the prime minister said that treatment for deadly diseases like cancer is very expensive for the poor population of Pakistan.
He said that as the chief minister of Punjab, he provided the 130 million people of the province with the best treatment initiatives like screening and treatment facilities for Hepatitis in the most remote and underdeveloped areas of the province where the poor man in great need. of basic facilities such as education and health.
The chief minister further informed that as the former chief minister, he also established the first kidney and liver hospital in Punjab which is probably one of the best in Asia where poor patients are given free treatment.
Regarding the dengue outbreak in 2011 in the province, he shared that the phenomenon in the health sector is one of the biggest in the world.
But they got experts and equipment and with the cooperation of the entire government machinery, civil society and common man launched a big campaign against dengue larvae, he added.
“They were able to control the epidemic with collective efforts and limited resources,” he said, adding that it was a test case for global health sector studies.
The prime minister, in his remarks, thanked the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for their support and providing vaccines for the polio eradication drive in Pakistan.
He also acknowledged the generosity of Bill Gates during the flood season of 2022 to support the affected people of Pakistan.
In expressing his views, the World Health Organization Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus emphasized the collective efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
He shared his concerns over maternal and child mortality rates, adding that some 54 countries are still far from achieving the SDG targets. Another 4.9 billion people around the world do not have access to basic services, he added.
The DG said the world is vulnerable to any pandemic but they have learned from past experiences and are building on them.
Some participants believe that conflicts in the world are increasing and affecting the needs of the health sector and stress that resource-rich countries should help communities in need.
They emphasized the need to invest more in the health sector.
