The members of the D-8 nations have decided to convene a virtual working meeting on the coronavirus following a proposal from Bangladesh.
Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan and Turkey are the members of D-8 or Developing-8. The foreign ministry said Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen officially proposed the meeting following Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s instruction to explore collective solutions to the pandemic from all regional and international groups.
Dr Momen wrote a letter to his Turkish counterpart since Turkey is the current Chair of D-8 to explore options how the newly created window of D-8 Health and Social Protection Programme (D-8 HSP) can be utilised to support each other during this crisis.
This D-8 HSP became functional in October last year.
Following Dr Momen’s letter, the D-8 HSP, which is based in Abuja, Nigeria, decided to convene a virtual working meeting of the focal persons of the D-8 HSP on April 16.
The meeting is expected to come up with mechanisms to lessen the hardship through sharing best practices and resources, the foreign ministry said.
They will also find means “to share number of developed and home-grown health innovation ecosystems and exchanges within or between D-8 countries”.
“They may also agree on a research methodology to measure the health and socio-economic impact of the pandemic,” the foreign ministry said.
Officials from the Directorate General of Health Services and allied institutions will lead the Bangladesh side in the meeting.
The global health experts from D-8 observer and partner organisations like Chatham House, World Health Organization, ILO, IsDB, Global Women Leaders in Health and CHESTRAD International will support the virtual meeting.
The foreign minister in his letter also proposed postponement of the D8 Summit, which was scheduled to take place in Bangladesh end of May 2020 due to the pandemic.
Dr Momen also highlighted the potential negative consequences of the COVID-19 crisis on overall economy, growth and jobs of the respective member countries.
In this regard he proposed Bangladesh and Turkey joint initiatives, engaging the D-8 Secretariat and other appropriate entities like UNCTAD/UNIDO, to explore ways and means for concerted efforts to restore confidence and devise strategies to meet those challenges.
The pandemic appears as a challenge for all countries in the world.
Bangladesh confirmed 803 cases as of Monday including 39 deaths.
