ISLAMABAD - Pakistan will host Video Conference
of SAARC Member States on Covid-19 today.A Foreign Ministry statement issued here yesterday said the conference would discuss the COVID-19 pandemic. Special Assistant to the Prime Minister for Health Dr. Zafar Mirza
will lead the Pakistan delegation.
Besides ministers/ senior officials,
the meeting will be attended by Secretary General SAARC, Esala Ruwan Weerakon.”The virtual meeting takes forward
Pakistan’s earlier initiative to host the SAARC Health Ministers
meeting, which has assumed urgency in view of the COVID-19 pandemic. 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.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, said the statement.The Video Conference is part of Pakistan’s efforts to foster greater
cooperation at the regional level to effectively overcome the public health crisis, and