(MENAFN- Trend News Agency) RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, April 28 . The world mayface the same problem, as it was during the pandemic period, unlessit speeds up the initiatives that have already been started, TedrosAdhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World HealthOrganization (WHO) said during the panel discussions held as partof the Islamic Development Bank Group (IsDB) annual meetings inRiyadh, Trend reports.
“The COVID-19 situation is now much better and emergency isover. Of course, that doesn't mean the virus is not around. Thevirus is around, but it's controlled and it's not an emergency're glad that the world is now back to normal.
But to be honest, we're not still ready and we're stillvulnerable. We may face the same problem unless we speed up theinitiatives that we have started. Especially, the pandemicagreement should be concluded by May this year, so we have abinding agreement to work together to prevent the same thing fromhappening and if it happens, to manage it without much impact,” hesaid.
WHO director general noted that there are three lessons learnedfrom COVID-19.
“First, we have seen that our investment in public health andprimary health care was actually weak. That's why even high incomecountries were surprised, because their investment was more in hightechnology, while the public health and primary health care wasneglected. The second lesson is equity. COVID has exposed theunfairness of our world, the inequity of our world.
In the pandemic agreement we're trying for operationalizingequity, so we can prevent the same thing from happening again. Thethird lesson is politicization. If you remember, at national level,there was no national unity. Political parties were using COVID asa punching tool,” he added.
The Islamic Development Bank Group (IsDB) is holding its 2024Annual Meetings and Golden Jubilee in Riyadh from April 27-30,under the Royal Patronage of the Custodian of Two Holy Mosques,King Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud.
The 2024 Annual Meetings are being held under the theme of“Cherishing our Past, Charting our Future: Originality, Solidarityand Prosperity”, which marks IsDB's 50 years of fosteringsocio-economic development in its member countries.
Among other topics, the meetings will also feature roundtable onCOP29 with participation of Azerbaijani governmentrepresentatives.
As the premier South-South multilateral development Bank, the2024 IsDB Group Annual Meetings and Golden Jubilee attractsinternational and regional attention.
The Annual Meetings feature a series of side events withtop-level panelists from government, international and regionalorganizations, the private sector, academia, and civil society.
Ministers of Economy, Planning, and Finance from IsDB's 57member countries are participating in the event, along withrepresentatives of international and regional financialinstitutions, Islamic banks, private sector companies, national andinternational development finance institutions, international andregional organizations, NGOs, chambers of commerce & Industry, andbusiness councils.
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