President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said: "We, as Türkiye, have mobilised our resources not only for our citizens but also for friendly and brotherly countries since the early days of the pandemic"
President Erdoğan sent a video message to the Global Health Summit held in Rome and co-hosted by G20 President Italy and the European Union (EU).
Starting his speech by greeting the heads of state and government and the President of the European Commission as well as the participants, President Erdoğan thanked the G20 President Italy and the European Commission for organising the meeting.
President Erdoğan wished the summit to be successful and auspicious for Türkiye and humanity and expressed his gratitude to all who supported and contributed to the drafting of the Rome Declaration, which they would adopt today.
Underlining how the novel coronavirus pandemic reminded us once again that health is the greatest happiness in the world, President Erdoğan said, "With this understanding, we, as Türkiye, have mobilised our resources not only for our citizens but also for friendly and brotherly countries since the early days of the pandemic. We enabled rapid development, manufacture, and distribution of essential health equipment and tools."
"We have administered over 27 million doses of vaccines"
"We sent various medical devices and supply, including domestic ventilators, to 158 countries and 12 international organisations", President Erdoğan said and continued as follows:
"We organised training programs for the manufacture of personal protective equipment in order to strengthen the manufacturing capacities of some developing countries. We paid particular attention to the needs of disadvantaged populations. We ensured that the 4 million refugees we host in our country had uninterrupted access to healthcare services. As of today, we have administered over 27 million doses of vaccines, 12 million of which are second doses. We are continuing our trials to develop a domestic vaccine. On the other hand, we see severe injustices in vaccine access on a global scale. Up to now, high or upper-middle-income countries have used 80 per cent of the vaccines that have been administered worldwide. The majority of the population in developed countries has received at least one dose of vaccination; however, this rate could not even reach 1% in Sub-Saharan Africa. Similar calamitous situations occur in approximately 100 countries around the world."
"Once developed, we will make our domestic vaccine available to the whole humanity"
"We, as Türkiye, have strived to share the vaccines that we have with other countries. I hope that once developed, we will make our domestic vaccine available to our citizens as well as the rest of humanity. We support the efforts of multilateral financial institutions and initiatives to achieve fair access to vaccines." President Erdoğan indicated.
Stressing that control measures to be taken against outbreaks should be coordinated and proportional, President Erdoğan noted the following:
"The control measures in question should respect the delicate balance between health and economy and reinforce the central position of the World Health Organisation. In this context, no new barriers or forms of discrimination should be erected between vaccinated and unvaccinated people. There is no justification for any country that is a member of the World Health Organisation to refuse to recognise a vaccine approved by this organisation. International travel and tourism should be made possible by ensuring adequate health and hygiene conditions. The way to strengthen the global health system is to fortify the central role of the World Health Organisation. We also support the reform process being carried out to this end."
President Erdoğan pointed to the importance of rapid detection, early notice, and rapid knowledge exchange for preventing the spread of infectious diseases, and stated that the pandemic was closely monitored even before a case was identified in Türkiye, and the Scientific Board began its work about two months before the first case was detected.
President Erdoğan continued his remarks as follows:
"Establishing a coordination mechanism between our national operation centres will benefit the coordination of operations such as evacuations and the delivery of urgent medical needs. Establishing a 'Good Practices Database' among G20 countries would make it easier to take measures against future crises. The initiative to defer debt payments which we implemented as the G20 platform also prevented the pandemic from escalating into a global debt crisis."
President Erdoğan underlined that the experiences over the last 1.5 years taught a very powerful lesson in eliminating the flaws in the international system and building a more equitable order and said, "Health is a right for everyone, not a privilege. It is our shared responsibility to leave our children a more just, liveable, and prosperous world. We will continue to work for the establishment of such a world as Türkiye."
President Erdoğan concluded his remarks by wishing the summit to be a success and greeted the participants.