President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday called on the international community to promote a platform for knowledge sharing from the output of science and research to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
He made the appeal while speaking at a virtual Extraordinary China-Africa Summit on Solidarity Against the COVID-19, co-hosted by the Forum for China-Africa Cooperation.
He said: “As we face a common pervasive and invisible enemy, it is important that we all remain united to save our shared humanity, because this virus knows no borders.
“The fight against a global pandemic that continues to take so many lives, threaten livelihoods and challenging the very fabric of societies, requires enhanced cooperation and worldwide solidarity.
“I seize this opportunity to reiterate the need for this Summit to put humanity at the centre of our vision for
common prosperity.
“We must learn lessons and share knowledge from research, as we develop more creative, responsive and humane health systems, improve crisis management protocols and support each other in the battle against COVID-19,” Buhari added.
President Buhari also used the occasion to commend the United Nations (UN) Secretary General, Antonio Gutteres, for launching COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund for low and middle-income countries to address health emergency, social and economic consequences of the crisis and also strengthen the recovery efforts of most vulnerable countries as well as the WHO for its advice to Nigeria, which he said enabled the country to make necessary moves to enlighten its people on steps to take to avoid contracting and spreading the virus.
Buhari also acknowledged Chinese support to Nigeria which has tremendously strengthened the effort to combat COVID-19.
In his update on what his administration had done since the outbreak of the pandemic in the country, the president stated: ”From the onset of the pandemic, we in Nigeria instituted strong surveillance and infection prevention as well as control measures and made provisions to strengthen our testing capacities.
”Several well-equipped treatment and isolation centres were set up across the country to increase bed capacity.
”In the spirit of international collaboration, medical experts in Nigeria participated by video link in learning and experience-sharing exercises organised by experts from various countries, including China”.
The summit was co-hosted by Chinese President Xi Jinping, South African President and African Union (AU) Chairman, Cyril Ramaphosa, and Senegal President and co-chair of the Forum for China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), Macky Sall.
