On Monday, Prime Minister Imran Khan held a video conference with Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the Director-General of World Health Organization, about the current situation of COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the sources, the exchange between Pakistani government and WHO was pleasant and ideas and statistics about the pandemic situation were exchanged online. Regarding the meeting PM office released their statement via Twitter. It said:
"PM Imran Khan held a video conference with Director General World Health Organization today. While noting progress made by Pakistan in containing the spread of virus, WHO appreciated the steps taken by the Government of Pakistan in fighting the pandemic.
The Prime Minister appreciated the support extended by WHO to the international community including Pakistan to fight COVIDー19.
PM highlighted Pakistan’s strategy of deploying scientific and data driven interventions as well as rapid upgrades of health care facilities, all while attempting to a maintain a balance between life and livelihood that has yielded positive results.
The Prime Minister observed that travel restrictions imposed by developed countries in the wake of COVIDー19 can further exacerbate economic difficulties of developing countries struggling to mitigate adverse economic impact of the pandemic.
PM called upon WHO to play its role in engaging member states to remove COVIDー19 related travel restrictions for Pakistan and other developing countries and to work towards a data driven system of non discriminatory travel rules. Dr. Tedros Adhanom stated that WHO was working to suggest COVID-19 related travel guidelines to help the international community in making these decisions. "
Replying to the statement WHO chief Dr. Tedros tweeted:
"Thank you for a productive call this morning, Prime Minister Imran Khan about the COVID19 situation in Pakistan & globally. WHO is glad to see that cases in Pakistan have been in decline since early June & we appreciate your strong surveillance efforts to fight the pandemic."
