Doha, - On its second and final day, the Doha Forum shed light on how to build the capabilities and health systems to deal with natural disasters and health pandemics based on the lessons learned from dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused a global shock when it occurred and confounded the health systems in many countries.
The session, held within the activities of the Forum, discussed the pivotal role that vaccines and their innovations play in fortifying healthcare systems, the multifaceted aspects of vaccine development, and the importance of ensuring their efficient and fair distribution.
During the session, the speakers focused on the learned lessons of the COVID-19 virus and future plans to address health emergencies and epidemics. Speakers during the session included HE Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Peoples Republic of Bangladesh Dr Abul Kalam Abdul Momen, Head of Infectious Diseases at Hamad Medical Corporation Dr. Abdullatif Al Khal, and Chair of the Board of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Lady Roslyn Morauta.
HE the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh said that the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the world a lot and changed the way countries should consider dealing with pandemics and natural disasters. His Excellency indicated that the COVID-19 pandemic has cost countries a lot and, at the same time, demonstrated the need for a new global approach, especially regarding the equitable distribution of vaccines and medicines, as it is no longer acceptable for countries to have an ample share of vaccines in the event of any epidemic, while other countries continue to suffer from a shortage.
His Excellency also pointed out that confronting epidemics requires building health systems that are capable of dealing with risks and communicable diseases, stressing the importance of strengthening the role of scientific research in this aspect.
His Excellency also underscored the need for vaccines to be public goods that everyone has the right to produce and manufacture, and not subject to intellectual property rights that limit production, making them a private good. His Excellency highlighted that the world has realized that epidemics require high preparedness from health systems and various concerned agencies to confront this type of disaster in a way that is based on coordination, cooperation, and the exchange of information and expertise between countries.
For her part, Lady Roslyn Morauta affirmed the importance of setting joint global mechanisms to ensure a fair distribution of vaccines worldwide, as it is unacceptable for countries to have abundant vaccines without other countries. She noted that the COVID-19 pandemic has enabled the various concerned health organizations to work on ensuring equal access to COVID-19 vaccines.
She stressed that the time has now come to enable the manufacturing and production of vaccines at a regional level, as national efforts in this framework ensure the strengthening of health systems in middle and low-income countries, considering that the lack of financial grants to support health systems in poor countries, for example, undermines their efforts to combat pandemics and epidemics, calling for more investment in this aspect through joint international cooperation.
She also underscored the importance of strengthening supply chains, as the world faced a major challenge during the COVID-19 pandemic, which was transporting and distributing vaccines in a safe and fair manner, pointing out that the availability of financial resources enables everyone to confront epidemics and health pandemics, reviewing what the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has done, which directed a large budget from its funds to address the COVID-19 pandemic.
In turn, Dr. Abdullatif Al Khal said that the COVID-19 pandemic made countries move from the concept of resilience to the concept of recovery at the level of health systems, noting that the COVID-19 pandemic has not ended as the world still needs to deal more with viruses that infect the respiratory system. Therefore, building resilience and preparedness capabilities enables greater response to epidemics and pandemics that can not be escaped but must be confronted.
He stressed the importance of developing the capabilities of the health system in the face of shocks and epidemics, while providing funds and investments in health infrastructure, strengthening decision-making mechanisms, and drawing up national health policies capable of dealing with disasters and epidemics. He noted that the State of Qatar was one of the best countries in dealing with the pandemic through proper planning, available health capabilities, and coordination between the various concerned agencies in the country.
He also underscored the importance of investing in preventive care and investing in national vaccine development programs, while working to distribute vaccines on a large scale and ensuring everyone's access to them, considering these to be essential elements for confronting pandemics.
Source: Qatar News Agency