VIDEO MEETING OF THE PRESIDENT OF TURKMENISTAN WITH THE DIRECTOR GENERAL OF WHO

On August 7, 2020, after the end of his labor leave, President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov on the first working day held a videoconference meeting with the Director General of the World Health Organization Tedros Ghebreyesus.

Opening the meeting, the WHO Director-General warmly greeted the President of Turkmenistan and expressed gratitude to the Turkmen leader for his personal contribution to the successful development of fruitful bilateral cooperation, built on the basis of mutual respect and trust.

The head of the WHO also thanked the Turkmen leader for his great contribution to the common efforts in the fight against the spread of the new type of coronavirus infection in the world.

Then the floor was given to the head of Turkmenistan. Welcoming the head of WHO, the Turkmen leader expressed gratitude for the initiative to hold and organize this meeting. As President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov emphasized, this is a good opportunity to exchange views on cooperation issues, as well as to discuss the most important themes in the field of human health.

Over the course of 28 years of its membership in the World Health Organization, Turkmenistan has carried out a great deal of work to improve the national health care system, bringing it in line with the fundamental international documents that determine the principles for the development of this sphere.

As a result, 25 years ago in our country the State Program "Health" was adopted. On its basis, a completely new model of a health care system was created, aimed at the general availability of medical care provided to the population, the President noted.

Touching upon the topic of the current discussion, the head of Turkmenistan noted that at present all of humanity is faced with a new universal threat - the coronavirus pandemic. Today, based on our experience gained over a quarter of a century, we have taken comprehensive measures to combat the spread of COVID-19, the President stressed.

Turkmenistan, bringing its activities carried out in this area in full compliance with the work carried out by the world community, came up with a number of important initiatives aimed at uniting international efforts in the fight against coronavirus.

Joint work carried out by the countries and international organizations is yielding positive results. However, numerous aspects related to the COVID-19 virus remain unclear. According to the President, on the basis of this, Turkmenistan puts forward its proposals.

First, the reasons for the emergence of new types of the virus today are an unresolved issue that scientists from many countries of the world are currently working on. In our opinion, in order to effectively carry out such work, it is necessary to prepare a special program of the World Health Organization to study the genome of the coronavirus.

Second, the emergence of disease types due to the COVID-19 virus is a complex issue. President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov stressed the need to consolidate the efforts of states to correctly diagnose this disease under the patronage of the World Health Organization, inviting the WHO Regional Office for Europe to consider the possibility of developing a regional method for combating pneumonia.

Thirdly, a particularly important issue is the improvement of methods for the treatment of newly emerged infectious diseases and their prevention. We hope for the assistance of the World Health Organization in further improving methods of treating relevant diseases, the head of Turkmenistan said, noting that in this regard, it is advisable to consider the issue of creating a methodological center for the treatment and prevention of acute infectious diseases in the structure of WHO.

Expressing gratitude to President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov for the informative speech and voiced proposals, Director General of the World Health Organization Tedros Ghebreyesus noted the importance of the initiatives put forward by the President of Turkmenistan that are significant for all mankind. In this context, the readiness of the World Health Organization was expressed to comprehensively study the proposals of the Turkmen leader and carry out joint activities.

In conclusion, the President of Turkmenistan and the head of the World Health Organization expressed their readiness to expand cooperation and join efforts in the fight against new threats and challenges to public health.