President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev held a videoconference meeting with Director General of the World Health Organization Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. During the talks, the prospects for enhancing cooperation between Kazakhstan and WHO were brought up, including in the context of countering the coronavirus pandemic.
Highly assessing cooperation between Kazakhstan and WHO, the President welcomed the speech of Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus at the opening of the World Health Assembly, in which he called for more global efforts in vaccination against COVID-19, vaccination of at least 10% by September of this year, and by the end of the year - 30% of the world's population.
Tokayev expressed gratitude to WHO for the practical support of our country - provision of protective equipment and medical equipment in the first months of the pandemic.
He informed Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus about measures taken by Kazakhstan to combat coronavirus.
The head of the WHO praised Tokayev’s efforts in countering the pandemic, saying that 2 million vaccinated people today is a very significant indicator, many countries have not yet reached this level.
He also welcomed development of the QazVac vaccine and pledged to consider adding it to the list of medicines recommended by the WHO for use in emergencies.
Outlook for primary health care development was also touched upon, specifically, promotion of the Astana Declaration of 2018, support of Kazakhstan initiative to develop a Political Resolution on Primary Healthcare, which can be adopted during the next UN General Assembly session in 2022.
Tokayev also proposed implementing a pilot project in Kazakhstan on raising the Central Asian countries’ potential within the One Health program with a view to creating a regional center for disease control and biosafety.
The parties agreed to continue close interaction to counter the pandemic challenges. The President confirmed Kazakhstan's readiness to further promote the WHO values and goals.
Reported by the Kazakhstanskaya Pravda.
