Riyadh: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday highlighted the global health care disparity, calling it the number one problem.
Speaking at a session dedicated to the global health agenda at a special meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Riyadh, Prime Minister Shehbaz spoke of the time he was diagnosed with “dirty cancer”.
I was diagnosed with adenocarcinoid, a very serious form of cancer, and they took me to New York. At that time I had to pay thousands of dollars out of pocket and I wondered how many people in my country could afford such a high price. treatment and I said “not much”.
Prime Minister Shehbaz spoke about the issue of global healthcare disparities and said that COVID-19 has exposed these disparities and gaps to the full.
“Imagine global north and south, vaccine distribution, etc.”
The Prime Minister then discussed the problem facing Pakistan, climate change.
“Pakistan does not contribute a small amount of emissions, but we are on the red list of climate change and in 2022 we are facing floods related to climate change in Pakistan.
“From hospitals to schools to land and agriculture, everything is destroyed and we have to invest hundreds of billions of rupees to bring people back,” the prime minister said, asking whether developing countries could do that.
In his speech, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif highlighted the achievements of the government during his tenure as the Prime Minister and said that it has been able to provide resources to remote parts of Punjab.
He also said that he has provided hepatitis screening and CT scan in every remote area of the province for the needy poor.
The Prime Minister also said that he has built one of the best kidney and liver hospitals in Lahore, where the poor are treated for free while the rich pay for it, and through this cross-combination, his government can create favorable conditions for the people. people subsidy.
He said this during a panel discussion on “Setting the Global Health Agenda” at a special meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Riyadh.
When the prime minister visited Saudi Arabia in 2003, he said he was “suffering from a very bad cancer”. He said he was then flown to New York and had to undergo surgery at a cost of “thousands of dollars.”
“And I wonder how many people in my country can afford such expensive treatment,” she said. On his return to Pakistan, Prime Minister Shehbaz said that he had been elected Prime Minister of Punjab and his government had established a special hospital for kidney and liver diseases as well as cancer.
“Today, I think the first problem is global inequality,” he said, adding that the Covid-19 pandemic has “exploded” inequality and this gap.
“Pakistan does not contribute a small amount of emissions. However, we are on the red list of climate change and in 2022 we will experience the worst floods in Pakistan […] and we will have to invest hundreds of billions of rupees to restore people.”
He said that as the Prime Minister of Punjab, he can provide health services to the people of the province. He also said that he has built a kidney and liver hospital, which is “the best in South Asia”.
Referring to the 2011 marine outbreak, he said it was “the biggest on earth”.
“I have to admit that I don’t know much about Deng. But I would hold meetings from six in the morning until evening […] that was a different challenge. I have a machine […] placed in the hospital […] and by my decision I have made all the laboratories responsible for low-cost tests,” he said.
But that does not mean that it is not necessary to solve the growing gap between the global North and the global South.
When it comes to polio, he said Pakistan has “benefited a lot” from the Bill Gates Foundation. “It wouldn’t be fair or just me if I didn’t acknowledge Bill Gates’ freedom here.
The Prime Minister landed in Saudi Arabia the other day with a high-level delegation including Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb.
This is the Prime Minister’s second visit to Saudi Arabia in a month. He recently visited the country for three days, his first foreign visit since becoming prime minister.
