To solve health issue, universal access to Covid-19 vaccination is critical

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Thursday that because the Covid-19 pandemic revealed nations’ interdependence, a coordinated response was required to address the disease’s triple challenge, which included vaccine supply, reallocation of IMF quotas by high-income countries, and climate finance adaptation.

The prime minister stressed that the “universal and affordable access to Covid-19 vaccine was vital to defeat the virus and to revive global trade, investment and growth”.

“The global economy will not fully recover unless all countries – wealthy and poor – are able to accelerate and expand investment to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and climate goals,” the prime minister said in a virtual address at the United Nations Headquarters in New York.

Imran Khan stated that the world has to increase vaccine manufacturing, notably in developing nations, and ensuring that vaccines are distributed quickly.

He advocated the surrender of intellectual property rights, even if only temporarily, vaccine production under license, full funding of the COVAX facility, grants, and concessional credit to enable developing nations to purchase vaccines at reasonable prices.

According to the prime minister, proper financing is critical in mobilizing developing nations to tackle the triple challenge of Covid recovery, implementation of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and environmental goals.

He praised the UN Secretary-outstanding General’s performance, as well as the entire UN system’s relief and recovery efforts in the aftermath of the pandemic.

According to the prime minister, Pakistan has been lucky in comparison to other nations since the government has been able to limit the virus through a policy of “smart lockdown” and a focus on the poor.

He said Pakistan was working to speed up its vaccination campaign after managing priceless lives and livelihoods through the Ehsaas socio-welfare programme.

High-income countries injected $17 trillion to stimulate their economy, whereas developing countries are expected to require at least $4.3 trillion to recover from crises and execute the SDGs, according to Imran Khan. He stated that they had only been able to obtain access to less than 5% of the total.

He recalled that he recommended the introduction of new IMF Special Drawing Rights as an effective approach to generate development financing last September, and he expressed delight at the agreement to produce $650 billion in additional SDRs.

He backed the IMF Director General’s proposal to allow high-income countries to voluntarily reallocate a portion of their unutilized IMF quotas, emphasizing the importance of swift approval.

He anticipated that the IMF, World Bank, and other development banks and institutions will reallocate at least $150 billion to finance sustainable development projects and programmes in developing nations.

“The restructuring of high-cost debt is another essential instrument to provide fiscal space and development finance for the affected developing countries,” he added.

He emphasized that any “common framework” for debt restructuring should avoid protracted debates that could defeat the goal of debt relief.

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