SAARC faces the

SAARC faces the Covid19; together?

Source AryNews: More than two months after the World Health Organisation declared Covid-19 a “public health emergency of international concern,” world leaders are still trying to make sense of the outbreak. South Asia, with its many political divisions as well as lack of health infrastructure, is facing a particularly tough set of challenges.

The number of reported cases in South Asia remains relatively low but given the limited and questionable quality of diagnostic testing with limited health response capacity of each country, questions have been raised about the epidemiological stage of the outbreak and the region’s preparedness to handle the Covid-19 outbreak.

Nevertheless, the crisis may also provide an opportunity for the countries of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) – Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, and Bangladesh – to fight the pandemic together. As part of the joint collaboration India has pledged USD 10 million, Pakistan has pledged USD 3 million, Sri Lanka has pledged USD 5 million, Bangladesh has pledged USD 1.5 million, Nepal and Afghanistan have pledged USD 1 million each, Maldives has pledged USD 200,000 and Bhutan has pledged USD 100,000.

Zofeen T. Ebrahim spoke to Zulfiqar A. Bhutta, a member of the Pakistani Prime Minister’s health task force and WHO Pakistan’s advisory committee on Covid-19 response, and asked him why it is important for SAARC to join forces.

Source: https://blogs.arynews.tv/