ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will host a two-day international summit on ‘Global Health Security 2024,’ scheduled for January 10 and 11, said the National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination (NHS, R&C).
Health authorities and international health organizations from at least 15 countries will participate in the summit. The summit, the first of its kind, aims to highlight imminent threats and challenges to global health security.
The chosen slogan, ‘Together for a Healthy Planet,’ reflects the summit’s focus on key areas such as the impact of global health security on national security, pandemic preparedness, climate change, emerging public health threats, and multi-sectoral coordination within the ‘One Health’ framework.
The summit will address critical topics such as access to Universal Health Coverage/PHC platform for achieving SDG3, ensuring vaccine equity, patent deregulation, and the transfer of vaccine manufacturing technology.
The official overseeing the event emphasized strategic objectives, including collaboration with global leaders for equity-based pandemic preparedness, financing for low and middle-income countries, knowledge exchange, and experience sharing.
The conference aims to forge global and regional partnerships with international organizations, align health security priorities with global and regional goals, and strengthen core capacities through technical assistance.
A significant milestone will be the signing of a ‘global health security charter,’ intended to shape an equity-based pandemic treaty and establish a global financing facility based on the “Islamabad declaration.”
The initiative seeks to enhance the resilience of health systems, advocate for the Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA), and showcase a coordinated ‘One Health response’ to any threats.
Pakistan’s Health Minister, Dr. Nadeem Jan, had earlier said that the summit’s purpose is to draw global attention to future pandemics and fortify collective capabilities to prevent, detect, and respond to infectious disease threats, building on lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic.
