Foreign Affairs Minister following PROSUR virtual meeting on Coronavirus: “Our aim is to make the greatest possible effort to control this virus.”
The officials agreed that there is a need to adopt coordinated measures to mitigate the possible effects on the region’s population and to develop joint actions to provide a comprehensive response to global challenges.
Foreign Affairs Minister Teodoro Ribera and Health Minister Jaime Mañalich led a videoconference with health officials from the Forum for the Progress and Development of South America (PROSUR), along with Uruguay and Bolivia, in order to jointly address the spread of Coronavirus in the region. The officials were joined by Pan-American Health Organization representative Fernando Leanes.
In this context, the officials agreed that there is a need to adopt coordinated measures to mitigate the possible effects on the region’s population and to develop joint actions to provide a comprehensive response to global challenges.
Foreign Minister Ribera noted that as Pro Tempore President of PROSUR, Chile decided to invite the organization’s members to address the topic in response to the spread of Coronavirus. The illness is causing one of the largest health crises of the decade and has spread to over 50 countries, affecting over 85,000 people.
The Minister stated that in the meeting, “We took an important step because our aim is to make the greatest possible effort to control this virus.” Along those lines, he explained that the meeting was held in part in response to the instructions issued by President Sebastián Piñera to use our knowledge about the illness as much as possible. The President also stated that the administration should “exchange information on the current status of the situation of this virus in other Latin American countries, find out what they are doing, exchange experiences and look at how we can undertake certain joint interventions.”
He also stated that the participants agreed to designate responsible parties in each country who will gather more information and be in constant contact with the other representatives. The Foreign Minister added, “We looked at whether it was possible for countries that face greater difficulties in terms of testing individuals who may have contracted the virus, to send their samples to countries with a greater capacity to address the issue.”
The result was a proposal made to Latin American countries to create a High Level Committee that was initially named “Latin Covid”, in order to adopt joint and coordinated measures to address the current health crisis. The representative of the local office of PAHO/WHO expressed his support for the proposal.
Minister Ribera also noted that there is a consensus that this virus, which affects the whole hemisphere, requires a collective response. “It is not a question of one country adopting exaggerated measures or being very lax and not taking any measures. Instead, we must maintain a robust dialogue and look at how we address this together, because it is not only about containing this virus and treating the sick. It is also about mitigating the effects on the economies of the different countries in terms of their export capacity and people’s movements, etc.”