News Desk: Dhaka,
Sept-23,
Prime Minister Sheikh
Hasina today reiterated her call to declare the Covid-19 vaccine as a
"global public goods" as she joined a summit on Covid-19 in the US
presidential palace, White House.
"For effective
global vaccination, COVID-19 vaccines need to be declared as "global
public goods", she said.
She added: "To
guarantee universal access, local production of vaccines by developing
countries and LDCs (Least Development Countries) which have the capacity must
be allowed."
A pre-recorded
statement was broadcast the "Covid-19 White House Global Covid-19 Summit:
Ending the Pandemic and Building Back Better".
US President Joe Biden
convened the virtual summit this morning (local time: 11 am).
Speaking at the summit,
Biden called on chiefs of state, heads of government and international
organizations, business, philanthropic, and non-government leaders to come
together for ending the Covid-19 pandemic.
German Chancellor
Angela Markel, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Indonesian President Zoko Widodo,
African President Cyril Ramaphosa, and the United Nations Secretary-General
Antonio Guterres, among others, spoke on the occasion.
Follow-up events slated
for later this year and early 2022 are intended to hold participants
accountable for their commitments, the White House told invitees.
Sheikh Hasina also said
her government has adopted a three-fold approach to fight the Covid-19 pandemic
being the first one with saving lives by allocating adequate medical
facilities, equipment, life-saving drugs and resources.
"The approach also
included supporting livelihoods of our citizens, especially the most vulnerable
groups and recovering economic activities back on track as quickly as
possible," she said.
The premier continued
that to build forward better Bangladesh is firstly focusing on inclusive growth
policies with focus on improved healthcare system and social safety net
programmes.
Sheikh Hasina said the
government secondly working for sustainable economic recovery putting emphasis
on innovation, job creation and investment.
And thirdly, she said
they are focusing on climate resilience and transition to low-carbon
development.
About the government's
initiatives to fight Covid-19 pandemic, she said, "So far we have
allocated 15.4 billion dollars stimulus packages, disbursed 166 million dollars
to 4.4 million beneficiaries, including poor elderly, widows, disabled persons,
and informal sector workers."
As of September 14, she
said that they have administered more than 35 million shots of vaccine.
She continued: "We
are planning to vaccinate 20 million people per month until 80% of our
population is inoculated by August 2022."
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