‘Misinformation causing unacceptability towards vaccination’

Islamabad : In order to promote parliamentary partnerships for regional integration and to accelerate working on global agenda in times of the ongoing pandemic, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Secretariat of the National Assembly of Pakistan hosted a panel discussion titled ‘Impact of COVID-19 on the Implementation of SDGs in the Region’ here on Wednesday.

The session of the second general conference of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Economic Cooperation Organization (PAECO) was chaired by Riaz Fatyana, MNA and Convener National Parliamentary Taskforce on SDGs and was co-chaired by key members of the taskforce.

The session included three thematic discussion sessions; ‘The Race for COVID-19 Vaccination’, that was chaired by Dr. Nausheen Hamid, Parliamentary Secretary for National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination and Convener Sub-Group. Session on ‘Open Data for a More Effective Covid-19 Response and SDGs Implementation’, was chaired by Dr. Aisha Ghous Pasha, MNA and Convener Sub-Group on SDGs Scorecard Development; and session on ‘What can Parliaments do to Achieve SDGs’ was chaired by Nafisa Shah, MNA/Member National Parliamentary Taskforce on SDGs. The discussion was attended by parliamentary delegates from; Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Iran (Virtual), Kazakhstan (Virtual), and Turkey.

Speaking on the occasion, Riaz Fatyana said, “Parliamentarians are close to the people from their respective communities and are mostly aware of their needs, culture and the environmental aspects, and could include those needs in a meaningful way in legislation. But sadly, our interactions with our constituents have limited down due to COVID’s social distancing policy and lockdowns. We are concerned that it might reflect on the upcoming general elections.”

Dr. Nausheen Hamid highlighted key steps the government has taken so far to respond to the pandemic including the development of an in-house vaccine. She further highlighted that “there is a lot of negative propaganda about the risks of the vaccine. The myths and misinformation is causing unacceptability towards getting vaccinated.”

During the discussion, Abdul Aziz Hakimi, Member of the Wolesi Jirga of Afghanistan shared the Afghani experience of COVID-19 with the participants and urged them to develop a regular distribution mechanism for vaccine in the region.

Tahir Mirkishili, Chair of the Committee on Economic Policy, Industries and Enterprising shared Azerbaijani vaccination experience against COVID-19 and reiterated the need to scale up production and sharing it across the region.

Dr. Aisha Ghous Pasha, talked about the significance of financial and digital inclusion for rural populations and to develop a comprehensive strategy to sustain the industrial opportunities created by the pandemic.

Dr. Nafisa Shah talked about the role of parliaments in implementing the 17 global goals. She said, “SDGs must be the priority for every state to uplift the local population. Parliaments have to approve budgets and they have the power to shape the global agenda into national vision. They must play a central role. People centric policies must be formed to ensure that no one is left behind.”

MP Bulent Kusoglu from Turkey said, “Parliaments should take lead to address the issue of public debts that got aggravated during this pandemic.”

Mehnaz Akber Aziz, Convener Special Sub-Group for Child Rights of the SDGs Taskforce, in her closing remarks urged the ECO parliaments to work in harmony as there was a huge appetite for regional cooperation and support.

Riaz Fatyana in the end, proposed a PAECO Committee on SDGs and it was agreed that the same maybe taken up at the Executive Council meeting of the next general PAECO Conference.