SCO Secretary-General Vladimir Norov sent a video address to participants in the International Conference "Universal Health Coverage and Sustainable Development Goals" held on 25 November 2021The conference was organised by the SCO Inter-Parliamentary Assembly and the WHO Regional Office for Europe.
In his address, the Secretary-General emphasised that ensuring, including by legislative means, the right of all categories of people to public health services and medical aid, which is the thematic core of the conference agenda, has acquired special importance in the COVID-19 environment. The international community is required to provide coordinated approaches to these issues. The SCO is active in this field and has developed the necessary legal infrastructure, including the Agreement between the Governments of the SCO Member States on Cooperation in Healthcare (2011), the Information Programme on the Epidemiological Situation Caused by Infectious Diseases in the Territory of the SCO Member States (2013), the Comprehensive Plan of Joint Actions of the SCO Member States to Counter the Threat of Epidemics in the Region (2020), and the Plan of Principal Measures to Promote Healthcare Cooperation between the SCO Member States for the 2022-2024 Period (2021).
It is important for all countries to draw relevant lessons from the coronavirus crisis that has engulfed humankind, develop a coordinated policy that would minimise the possibility the present-day upheavals would recur in the future, and realise that there is no alternative to joint efforts on a wide range of health issues, the address says.