Imran urges D-8 members to push back against vax nationalism

Islamabad, April 9 : Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan said that members of the D-8 Organization for Economic Cooperation should push back against vaccine nationalism and undue export restrictions to let Covid-19 vaccine reach equally to all countries of the world.

Addressing the 10th D-8 Summit, hosted in virtual format on Thursday, Khan said the D-8 should call for Covid-19 vaccine to be treated as a global public good, ensure equity, affordability, enhanced production and timely supply to save lives, according to the Prime Ministers Office.

The D-8 is an organization for the development of cooperation among the following countries: Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan and Turkey, reports Xinhua news agency.The 10th summit was hosted by Bangladesh under the theme of "Partnership for a Transformative World: Harnessing the Power of Youth and Technology".The Prime Minister said the contemporary global challenges of a changing world are a moving target and no single country can address these complexities in isolation, calling upon D-8 members to mobilise financing and resources to recover robustly from the economic and health crises induced by the pandemic.

He underlined the need to create opportunities for the youth through harnessing technology, promoting innovation, and investing in youth education, skills and training.