UNITED NATIONS: Pakistan urged the international community on Sunday to ensure early and equitable distribution of Covid-19 vaccines as all nations do not have the resources to defeat the pandemic.

“It is painfully obvious that developing countries lack essential financial resources to build up their health systems to deal with such a global disaster,” said Pakistan’s UN Ambassador Munir Akram.

The United Nations commemorated the first International Day of Epidemic Preparedness on Sunday to emphasise the need to make greater investments in preparedness to confront this and future health emergencies.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also underlined this point in his message, noting that the world community was observing this day at the end of a year in which a scenario many had feared came tragically true. “As we strive to control and recover from the current pandemic, we must think about the next,” he said.

President of the General Assembly Volkan Bozkir said the devastating experience of the Covid-19 pandemic had made clear the benefits of tackling epidemics together.

“If we ready ourselves, then we can save lives and stop epidemics from developing into pandemics,” he said, adding that Covid-19 must be the final warning.

Ambassador Akram, who also heads the UN Economic Social Council (ECOSOC), said the international community’s first and immediate task was to ensure that the vaccine against coronavirus was distributed early and equitably to everyone.

He said the health and economic emergency triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic had put into spotlight the frailty of the global health systems and their preparedness against future epidemics.

Stressing the need for global solidarity, Ambassador Akram noted that a UN facility created to ensure equitable distribution of Covid-19 vaccines was still short of over $20 billion to make the vaccine available to the poorest countries.

“It must be fully funded. Nor should advance purchase agreements deprive the developing countries equitable access to the vaccine,” he said.

The UN secretary-general highlighted the need for strong health systems and social protection and support for communities on the frontlines, and technical cooperation for countries.

“Across this work, science must be our guide. Soli­darity and coordination are crucial, within and among countries; no one is safe unless all of us are safe,” he added.

Published in Dawn, December 28th, 2020