{"id":269554,"date":"2020-09-23T01:13:45","date_gmt":"2020-09-23T05:13:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=269554"},"modified":"2020-09-23T01:13:45","modified_gmt":"2020-09-23T05:13:45","slug":"prrd-pushes-for-universal-access-to-covid-19-vaccine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2020\/09\/23\/prrd-pushes-for-universal-access-to-covid-19-vaccine\/","title":{"rendered":"PRRD pushes for universal access to Covid-19 vaccine"},"content":{"rendered":"
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In his first speech before the 75th United Nations General Assembly, Duterte cited the need for \u201crich and poor nations\u201d to have access to a vaccine. (Pixabay photo)covid vaccine<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MANILA<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 President Rodrigo R. Duterte on Wednesday called for \u201cuniversal access\u201d to a coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) vaccine, saying it is the only way to beat the global health crisis.<\/p>\n

In his first speech before the 75th United Nations General Assembly, Duterte cited the need for \u201crich and poor nations\u201d to have access to a vaccine.<\/p>\n

“The world is in the race to find a safe and effective vaccine. When the world finds that vaccine, access to it must not be denied nor withheld. It should be made available to all, rich and poor nations alike, as a matter of policy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Duterte said the Philippines joins its partners in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and the Non-Aligned Movement in believing that the Covid-19 vaccine must be considered \u201ca global public good.\u201d<\/p>\n

With each nation having a strategy in fighting the pandemic, he said, the world needs \u201ccoordinated international plans and efforts\u201d to defeat the health crisis.<\/p>\n

\u201cCovid-19 knows no border. It knows no nationality. It knows no race. It knows no gender. It knows no age. It knows no creed,\u201d the President said.<\/p>\n

He also recognized the role played by the United Nations in its fight against the pandemic.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a middle-income country whose economic advances have been derailed by the pandemic, we welcome the launch of the UN Covid Response and Recovery Fund,\u201d Duterte said.<\/p>\n

He called for a global health agenda with enough resources and policy space for the World Health Organization (WHO).<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need a WHO that is quick to coordinate and quicker to respond. The Philippines will do its part in the pooling of global resources. Our health workers are among the best,\u201d Duterte said.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, he also extended condolences to all of the families whose loved ones died of the deadly disease.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the light of the realities of the present, the Philippines grieves with all of the families all over the world who lost their loved ones to this horrible virus,\u201d Duterte said.<\/p>\n

He noted that defeating the Covid-19 pandemic and other challenges require \u201cseamless unity,\u201d which also demands \u201ccomplete mutual trust.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe cannot bring back the dead but we can spare the living; and we can build back better, healthier, and more prosperous and just societies,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Duterte was the 12th head of state to have his remarks aired at the UN General Assembly High-level Debate.<\/p>\n

This year marks the first time that the global body’s high-level general debate and other high-level meetings were done almost completely virtually due to restrictions posed by the health crisis.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MANILA\u00a0\u2013 President Rodrigo R. Duterte on Wednesday called for \u201cuniversal access\u201d to a coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) vaccine, saying it …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":265053,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,95],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-269554","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","category-news-ph","mauthors-azer-parrocha","mauthors-philippine-news-agency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269554","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=269554"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269554\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":269558,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269554\/revisions\/269558"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/265053"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=269554"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=269554"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=269554"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}