PM for universal, affordable vaccine access to all

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has demanded appropriate global action for "universal and affordable" vaccine access to all for COVID-free world.

She made the call while addressing the 76th UN General Assembly (UNGA) on Friday night.

She addressed in Bangla as previous years, following Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's footprint.

The premier also expressed her grave concern over growing trend of "vaccine divides" pointing out World Bank reports suggesting high and upper middle-income countries received so far 84 percent of vaccines against less than one percent by low-income countries.

"This vaccine inequality must be urgently addressed ... we cannot chart out a sustainable recovery and be safe by leaving millions behind," she said, demanding a UN declaration calling COVID-19 vaccines as a "global public goods" in the weeklong UNGA general debate that began on September 21.

Sheikh Hasina said vaccine technologies must be transferred immediately across the globe to ensure vaccine equity, saying, "Bangladesh is ready to produce vaccines in mass scale if technical know-how is shared with us and patent waiver is granted".

She placed several proposals to contain the global pandemic, saying only a meaningful collaboration towards a resilient and inclusive recovery could combat the pandemic though it so far brought to the fore the inadequacy of the global response to tackle emergencies.

Bangladesh's permanent representative to the United Nations Rabab Fatima chaired the session coinciding with the prime minister's address in the UNGA where 100 heads of government and state were speaking in person.