Aziz Nosirov: “Efforts to maintain the population’s sanitary and epidemiological wellbeing is an important SCO task”

On 31 October 2017, Sochi hosted the fifth meeting of heads of SCO member states' services responsible for the maintenance of the population's sanitary and epidemiological wellbeing. Anna Popova, Head of the Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing and Chief State Sanitary Physician of the Russian Federation, chaired the meeting.

Deputy Prime Minister and Government Chief of Staff Sergei Prikhodko and SCO Secretary-General Rashid Alimov sent a message of greetings to the event's participants.

The meeting involved representatives of eight SCO member states for the first time.

A delegation of the SCO Secretariat headed by Deputy SCO Secretary-General Aziz Nosirov took part in the meeting.

In his message of greetings, SCO Secretary-General Rashid Alimov said that the Astana Declaration, adopted by leaders of the SCO member states, stated the need for invigorated multilateral and bilateral cooperation in protecting people's health, maintaining the population's sanitary and epidemiological wellbeing, preventing and combating infectious diseases, training professionals and improving the skills of medical personnel. The current meeting is another important joint step in favour of mutually beneficial cooperation regarding efforts to improve the wellbeing and living standards of the population of the SCO member states. This cooperation is called on to provide a worthy response to modern challenges, including the consistent implementation of sustainable development goals up to the year 2030.

The heads of services exchanged opinions on all-out threats to biological security and their regional implications in the SCO space, on cooperation between SCO member states in implementing international medical and sanitary regulations as well as responding to outbreaks of infectious diseases with a pandemic potential, on scientific cooperation between SCO member states in fighting global and regional biological threats.

Following the meeting, a final communique of the fifth meeting of heads of SCO member states' services responsible for maintaining the population's sanitary and epidemiological wellbeing was adopted.

Those taking part unveiled mobile laboratories and gained an insight into the experience of specialised epidemic-prevention teams of the Federal Service for Supervision of Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing (Rospotrebnadzor).

Anna Popova, Head of the Federal Service for Supervision of Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing, Special Representative of the President of Russia on SCO Affairs Bakhtiyar Khakimov and Deputy SCO Secretary-General Aziz Nosirov held a joint news conference on the sidelines of the meeting.