Zafar Mirza-led SAARC meeting agrees to jointly fight COVID-19 pandemic

ISLAMABAD: Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Health Affairs Dr Zafar Mirza on Thursday chaired the meeting of health ministers from South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries, where it was agreed to jointly fight COVID-19 pandemic, ARY NEWS reported.

Secretary General of the SAARC and other concerned officials also attended the meeting.

The participants of the meeting agreed to jointly fight the coronavirus pandemic in the region other than extending cooperation in the health sector.

Dr Zafar Mirza also highlighted the measures undertaken by Pakistan to tackle the virus outbreak and stressed upon the need to revive health’ technical committee under SAARC to streamline the efforts against the virus.

He said that the Pakistan was working on smart lockdown idea and and they were eyeing to minimize negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economy. “Regional cooperation to fight out the virus is necessary,” he said.

Earlier in the day, the Foreign Office shed light on the SAARC meeting hosted by Pakistan saying that that the member countries will share their experiences to contain the virus besides holding discussions over enhancing cooperation to cope with the crisis.

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“In addition to exchanging updates on the status of national containment efforts, the Conference will deliberate on ways to promote deeper cooperation to combat the crisis, including inter alia through strengthening disease surveillance, sharing best practices, building national capacities, coordinating research efforts and promoting regional and international linkages,” the FO added.

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 all available institutional mechanisms, including the SAARC platform, remains important for combating the disease.

The video conference is also part of Pakistan’s efforts to foster greater cooperation at the regional level to effectively overcome the public health crisis, and mitigate its socio-economic impact, the statement further added.