The 5th Ministerial Meeting on Health was held on May 24, 2023 on the sidelines of the 76th Meeting of the World Health Assembly in Geneva. Chaired H.E. Dr. Teymur Musayev, Minister of Health of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the meeting was attended by the ECO Secretary General Ambassador Khusrov Noziri, delegations from ECO Member States, ECO Secretariat and ECO Observers.
In his statement, honorable Minister Musayev underlined that sharing experience and knowledge will help enhancing regional collaboration in the post-covid era. He remarked that the region needs stronger prevention and preparedness activities in the health sector to address possible future challenges.
In order to end the crisis and avert future emergencies, the ECO Secretary General highlighted the importance of; creation of a Regional Consultation Mechanism for enhancement of technical cooperation on communicable diseases in close collaboration with relevant international organizations; immediate coordinated response to suppress spread of diseases; scaling up of health capacities; steady assistance to the most deserving Member States on account of medical requirements; and ensuring stronger supply chains for the betterment of the region’s livelihood as well as socioeconomic activities.
The Heads of Delegation shared their views on the implementation of the ECO Action Plan of Health which aims at finding solutions to public health matters and identifying the critical measures during the emergency health situations. The participants also stressed the need for enhancing collaboration and adapting to new developments as well as designing effective strategies in order to build stronger health systems in order to control future outbreaks. They appeared to agree that healthcare challenges, social and economic problems, political instability, natural disasters and climate change require stronger regional cooperation for achieving the common desired goals of regional development.
The meeting also finalized the 5th Health Ministerial Declaration which will be adapted after a 15 days silence procedure.
