Malawi President Dr. Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera has said ensuring equitable healthcare is the only option countries have at their disposal to safeguard the global economy from health-related disruptions experienced in the past two years.
Chakwera has since challenged the global community to invest in filling the health systems gaps and inequities that the Covid-19 pandemic has exposed in developing nations like Malawi.
He was speaking on Tuesday in Davos Switzerland during the World Economic Forum session on Investing in Health Equity.
"It must be done, and it must be done by all stakeholders," emphasized Chakwera.
He said a series of outbreaks such as Covid-19 and the latest outbreak of Monkey pox has brought uncertainties on the future of public health across the world.
He added that the global economies are closely linked making a development, which has made the spread of Corona Virus and Monkey Pox to have a devastating impact on the world economy.
"We know that public health is the bedrock of economies. We are all painfully aware that if the health of any nation's citizen cannot be guaranteed it can threaten the very foundations of the economy. We are also aware that the economies of all nations are so inextricably linked that Corona virus outbreak in the Eastern World or Monkey pox outbreak can have devastating effects on economies in the Global South," said President Chakwera.
The Malawi leader suggested that there should be heavy investment in refilling the health system gaps and inequalities in nations like Malawian order to stabilize the global economy.
The President asked the delegates to consider making the 7th Replenishment of the Global Fund a model for investing in the healthcare to ensure that the inequalities are bridged.
"One model for doing this that is highlighting is the Global Fund, whose 7th Replenishment I am a champion. Investment in health systems by the Global Fund have given our health facilities to save millions of lives from Malaria which is one killer in Africa, as well as Tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS," stated Chakwera.
The healthcare session is one of the engagements President Chakwera is undertaking together with other leaders in order to come up with practical solutions to mitigate the impact of the outbreak of Corona pandemic and the Monkey pox and the Ukraine war on global economy.
