EditorialOpinion

Coronavirus Affected World: Needs Courageous and Strong Leadership

koronaAbu Tahir Mustaqim: Mankind is facing the most difficult health crisis in history. According to the Imperial College London, the coronavirus could kill 900,000 people in Asia alone and 300,000 in Africa. However, the necessary efforts to address the global crisis are not in sight.

The first step in tackling this crisis is to invent a simple medicine in an emergency. So that the lives of millions of people can be saved by preventing the transmission of this virus.

The second important thing is to find global leadership. That leadership will provide support and necessary assistance in the development of medicine. Statistics show that in rich countries, there is only one hospital bed for every seven complex patients. The situation of poor and developing countries there can be easily estimated.

The healthcare system in these countries is weak and social security is inadequate. They need at least বিল 35 billion in medicines, medical care and national stability.

If nothing is done to stop the spread of the epidemic in poor health care countries like Asia, Africa and Latin America, the consequences will be dire. Through them, the epidemic will spread in the world again.

Third, strong measures need to be taken to prevent the collapse of the economy in a world devastated by the coronavirus. Although governments continue to try to stave off economic collapse, they are struggling in real life. Therefore, the economy, financial management and trade measures must be taken on an urgent basis so that today’s recession does not become a crisis of tomorrow.

This year’s economic crisis will not end until the health emergency is resolved. And considering only the illness of a particular country, this health emergency will not end. This state of emergency can only end when all countries are free of coronavirus and there is no risk of its return.

The poorest countries need special economic assistance. The international community will have to write off the debt of developing countries this year. Instead, it is important to provide ১৫ 150 billion to sustain the economies of developing countries.

The international cooperative approach to mobilizing resources and manpower in the fight against coronavirus is sadly missing. This cooperation requires effective leadership.

On March 26, the leaders of the G20, the world’s richest country, held a video conference. These powerful countries control 90 percent of the global GDP. The G20 was originally formed to address and resolve the global crisis.

But sadly the video conference ended without any real commitment. The leaders called on the countries concerned to control the epidemic on their own initiative and left the matter to the finance and health ministers.

But in 2008, during the global economic crisis, G20 leaders gathered in Washington on an emergency basis. There they agreed on cooperation in economic policy and economic growth.

Earlier, in a state of emergency like tsunami, civil war or epidemic, the alliance of different countries has called a donors’ conference for the necessary funds. In today’s global emergency, the G20 needs to form a task force to coordinate international support, and a donor conference to implement that support.

While the ongoing epidemic has so far claimed the lives of more than 110,000 people around the world, it is different in terms of its uniqueness and horror. The epidemic has created a different kind of situation than the economic crisis or the spread of the Ebola virus. The spread of the coronavirus has become a serious threat to the global system, with fragile Western healthcare systems and crippling economic systems.

From Donald Trump to Angela Merkel, Boris Johnson, Emanuel Macho to Vladimir Putin, the leaders of the world’s most powerful nations do not seem helpless to deal with the coronavirus at home, but they are under pressure.

While the virus continues to kill people in Italy, France, the United States, Spain and the United Kingdom at alarming speeds, their leaders are not getting a chance to look beyond the border.

A different kind of global cooperation is taking its place when different countries are thinking of writing news of multilateral deaths by closing their borders and locking up their territories.

For example, scientists around the world are finding new ways to reduce bureaucratic red tape and exchanging epidemiological information, technology, and medical procedures.

Collaborative work between the parties is underway through Facebook, email and web pages to find a drug.

The world is waiting for a clear announcement on the issue at the meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank’s Development Committee on April 18-19. This is probably the best way to avoid a crisis. And if we try to avoid this path thinking it is expensive, the consequences will be terrible.

If world leaders fail this test, they will have a lot to lose.

#Author: Journalist and columnist

atmustakim@gmail.com

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