Ahmed Aboul Gheit, Secretary-General of the Arab League, participated in the ministerial conference on the COVID-19 pandemic, organized by the US State Department, on Wednesday, via video conference technology.
A statement issued by the Arab League stated that the Secretary-General’s participation reflects his interest in the topics related to the Coronavirus pandemic that the conference addresses, such as recovery policies, accelerating vaccination operations and sustainable financing to support health systems in times of epidemics, crises, and others.
In his speech, Aboul Gheit stressed the importance of supporting the material and human capabilities of the health sector, as creating platforms on sustainable financing and strengthening regional cooperation is a necessity to confront this pandemic and strengthen the capabilities of health systems to confront these crises.
He called for the unification of international and regional efforts, and the importance of distributing vaccines around the world in a fair and just manner, taking into account the least developed countries and those experiencing conflicts that negatively affect them economically, socially and healthily.
Aboul Gheit referred to the importance of bridging the gap in the vaccination process between industrialized and developing countries, as well as the importance of involving the private sector in providing and delivering vaccines. He also valued the proposal to move from granting vaccines to supporting the capacities of developing countries to produce them locally.
