G20 Health Ministers Tasked With Formulating COVID-19 Urgent Measures - Joint Statement

G20 leaders have tasked their countries' health ministers with developing a list of urgent actions to combat the global COVID-19 pandemic and coordinate further with the World Health Organization (WHO) ahead of their scheduled ministerial meeting in April, leaders said in a joint statement published after Thursday's extraordinary leaders' summit

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 26th March, 2020) G20 leaders have tasked their countries' health ministers with developing a list of urgent actions to combat the global COVID-19 pandemic and coordinate further with the World Health Organization (WHO) ahead of their scheduled ministerial meeting in April, leaders said in a joint statement published after Thursday's extraordinary leaders' summit.

"We stress the importance of responsible communication to the public during this global health crisis. We task our Health Ministers to meet as needed to share national best practices and develop a set of G20 urgent actions on jointly combatting the pandemic by their ministerial meeting in April," the joint statement read.

Leaders of the G20 nations also committed to sharing information that would aid the research and development of therapeutic drugs and vaccines against COVID-19.

"We will share timely and transparent information; exchange epidemiological and clinical data; share materials necessary for research and development; and strengthen health systems globally, including through supporting the full implementation of the WHO International Health Regulations (IHR 2005)," G20 leaders said.

Further funding will also be provided to the manufacturing sector in order to meet the increasing need for medical supplies across the world, according to the statement.

Additionally, G20 leaders asked WHO officials to assess potential shortfalls in global preparedness against COVID-19 and any other future pandemics, and report their findings at future ministerial meetings.

"We ask the WHO, in cooperation with relevant organizations, to assess gaps in pandemic preparedness and report to a joint meeting of Finance and Health Ministers in the coming months, with a view to establish a global initiative on pandemic preparedness and response," the joint statement read.

Saudi Arabia, which currently holds the G20 presidency, chaired the leaders' extraordinary virtual summit, which took place via video conference.