ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have agreed to enhance bilateral collaboration in the field of health care, an official statement issued in Islamabad said on Thursday, adding the two countries would join forces to carry out research on vaccine development.
The decision to work together in the medical field was reached after Pakistan’s health minister, Abdul Qadir Patel, met his Saudi counterpart, Fahad Al-Jalajel, on the sidelines of the 76th session of the World Health Assembly at the UN headquarters in Geneva.
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have always enjoyed close defense and diplomatic ties, and in recent years, they have sought to further broaden and deepen their cooperation to add more strategic value to their relationship.
“The Saudi health minister has agreed to work together with Pakistan while dealing with epidemics and health security,” Patel was quoted as saying by Pakistan’s health ministry in a statement issued after the meeting. “The two countries will jointly conduct research on vaccine development for COVID-19 and other epidemics.”
The meeting marked the second time Patel met with the Saudi minister in the last eight months.
He highlighted the work done by Pakistan’s border health services, saying they were determined to effectively deal with epidemics.
The Pakistani minister also noted Al-Jalajel agreed to provide more opportunities to doctors, nurses, and medical technicians from his country in the kingdom.
It is worth mentioning that a large number of medical professionals from Pakistan are already employed by several hospitals in Saudi Arabia. The services of Pakistani doctors during the COVID-19 pandemic were recognized by the Saudi authorities.
The statement added that Pakistani health minister emphasized the importance of establishing a health security network in Islamic countries with the cooperation of Saudi Arabia.
