Thailand Ready to Share Knowledge on COVID19 to UN – PM Prayut

Thailand is ready to share to the world the country’s knowledge and experience in handling the currently ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

This is what Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said during the 75th Session of the United Nations General Assembly or UNGA75, on Saturday.

General Prayut, who cannot fly to New York for the session, spoke via teleconference to the assembled representatives of state in New York.

In his statement, Prime Minister Prayut said that Thailand, being one of the countries with foremost experience in keeping COVID-19 at bay, is ready to share with various stakeholders and countries worldwide what its agencies learned in the 6 months of the pandemic.

Prime Minister Prayut said that he will be willing to make that knowledge available through the Foreign Policy and Global Health Initiative.

However, he also added that it is important that member states of the United Nations should cooperate as well in the global battle against the COVID-19. He stressed that multilaterism and global unity are two things each member state should be committed to, not just during this pandemic, but also in the future.

While Thailand is also on the race to produce a vaccine for COVID-19 as quickly as possible, Gen. Prayut said that everyone should share the fruit of their labors, saying that vaccine and medicines should be regarded as global public goods.

Thus, any vaccine for COVID-19 in the future should be available to everyone regardless of their financial status.

The Prime Minister also gave thanks to the UN for giving recognition to Thailand’s efforts in keeping its casualties and cases to an absolute minimum.

Thailand is one of the few countries to have a low number of infections and a high recovery rate. As of September 27, 2020, the Tourism Authority of Thailand reported that there are currently 3,523 cases in the country’s roster.

Only 97 are currently being treated for the virus, while 3,367 have already recovered. There are only 59 deaths. The latest fatality was a staff member of the Ministry of Labour who tested positive after returning from Saudi Arabia. The staffer died on September 18, the first fatality since June.

The country’s medical experts are hard at work at producing not one, but three possible vaccines to the COVID-19.

These are, namely: a virus-like particle being developed by Sriraj Hospital Faculty of Medicine, a sub-unit vaccine by the Chulalongkorn University’s Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, and a killed-virus vaccine jointly developed by the National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology and the National Vaccine Institute.

The Royal Thai Government has previously approved a THB1 billion cash assistance for the research and development needs of the NVI. The Ministry of Health is seeking an additional THB3 billion from the government for continued research and development.

Thailand is currently also gearing up to reopen its borders to foreign tourism, seeking out tourists under a Special Tourist Visa that will allow visitors to stay at least 30 days and up to 90 days in a single entry.

Source:
BangkokPost