President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said, "Supporting vulnerable and disadvantaged groups' access to vaccines, diagnosis, treatment, and personal protection is both a universal right to health and a moral imperative.”
President Erdoğan sent a video message to the “Global Covid-19 Summit” hosted virtually by US President Joe Biden on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.
Beginning his remarks by greeting the heads of state and government, President Erdoğan thanked Biden for organising this event and his kind invitation.
President Erdoğan noted that the humanity had been facing an unprecedented test for nearly two years and learned that if they displayed solidarity, they could recover from this plague.
Underlining that Türkiye supported in principle the goals of vaccination of at least 70 percent of the world population, strengthening the means of testing, diagnosis, treatment, detection and prevention in all countries, and building a better health architecture at the global level, President Erdoğan stated that, in this process, Türkiye aided many countries in the provision of medical supplies they required and would continue to support their efforts to achieve these goals within the confines of its facilities.
"Supporting vulnerable and disadvantaged groups' access to vaccines, diagnosis, treatment, and personal protection is both a universal right to health and a moral imperative,” Erdoğan emphasised, and went on to make the following remarks:
"Income differences between countries should not hinder access to vaccines and the right to health. In this regard, it is of vital importance to ensure international cooperation and solidarity at the maximum level. A fair, scientific and humane approach requires this. With this understanding, we delivered medical equipment and other critical materials required in the fight against the pandemic to 159 countries and 12 international organisations. We shared some of the vaccines we supplied from other countries with countries at request. With our nationwide vaccination program, we have come very close to achieving the goal of 70 percent in 2nd dose vaccination of our population over the age of 18. In addition, we are committed to putting TURKOVAC and other national vaccine candidates into mass production as soon as possible and making them available to the use of all humanity."
"The pandemic revealed many shortcomings "
President Erdoğan indicated that, in the next period, Türkiye would continue to do its part for low- and low-middle-income countries, taking into account the commitments of the "Global Summit on Covid-19 and that the pandemic also revealed many shortcomings in the global health architecture.
President Erdoğan also made the following remarks:
"In light of the lessons learnt from this pandemic, it is our responsibility to future generations to make the multilateral system more resilient and well-prepared against global health threats. A new global pandemic is not a possibility; it is only a matter of time. Therefore, correcting the identified deficiencies is not an option but a political responsibility. Türkiye is ready to take its place in the course of effort to be exerted for a stronger world in all respects after Covid-19.”
President Erdoğan concluded his remarks by expressing his hope for the Summit to be a success.