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Herald Reporter

There is need for collaborative support among countries in exchange of medical and other logistical supplies to ensure global victory in the fight against coronavirus, World Political Parties have said.

In a joint statement yesterday, World Political Parties  said countries ought to realise they were in a global village, and misfortunes that affected one nation had a bearing on another.

This called for deepening of collaboration efforts in fighting common threats and challenges such as the Covid-19.

“We encourage all countries, while devoting efforts to epidemic control, to adopt an integrated approach to ensure economic and social development and honour their commitment to peoples’ living standards and social progress,” said the political parties.

“As per recommendations of the World Health Organisation, countries are also encouraged to maintain appropriate level of international exchanges, and the flow of trade, capital and personnel worldwide, in particular to facilitate the cross-border transportation of urgently needed medical equipment and protective materials for epidemic prevention.”

The political parties said the virus didn’t respect borders, hence no country could respond to the challenges alone.

Closer international cooperation had been called for, to enable the world to defeat coronavirus.

The global parties encouraged countries to strengthen the sharing of experiences and medical cooperation in containing the outbreak, including joint research and development of specific medicines and vaccines.

There are fears that if the pandemic was not handled holistically, it could inflict greater harm to the lives, safety and health of more people, and exert pressure on economic and social development of most countries.

The parties commended China for the assistance it rendered to other countries, including disclosing epidemic related information in a timely fashion, sharing experiences on response and patient treatment, and in particular providing to the best of their ability to affected countries medical and other supplies.

Meanwhile, local political parties under the banner of the Political Actors Dialogue (Polad), have called on Zimbabweans to form a formidable force in the fight against coronavirus. Polad chairman for Information, Communication and Publicity Mr Nesbert Mtengezanwa said: “The Government has a big role to play in leading the nation against this evasive enemy. Our country is on the precipice and we will need to pull together as a united people.”

He said Polad will remain steadfast behind President Mnangagwa as he leads the country’s fight against Covid-19.