Day: May 19, 2022

ANKARA, Turkish Finance Minister, Nureddin Nebati, will travel to Egypt in early June, to attend a meeting of the Islamic Development Bank, a statement of the finance ministry said, yesterday.

Nebati will head a delegation to Egypt’s Red Sea resort city of Sharm El-Sheikh, and is expected to meet his Egyptian counterpart and other officials, the statement added.

This will be the first minister-level visit by a Turkish official since 2013, when bilateral ties deteriorated, following the ouster of former Egyptian President, Mohamed Morsi, supported by Turkey.

Both sides even expelled each other’s ambassadors in 2013.

The tensions were also reflected in the two countries’ different stances on some regional issues, especially the Libyan crisis and the Mediterranean demarcation deals, over the discovery of natural gas.

Since last year, Turkey has engaged in an effort to mend its frayed ties with regional powers, including Egypt, Israel, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK

Following is UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ message for the fifteenth anniversary of Unitaid, observed on 22 May:

I am pleased to mark the fifteenth anniversary of Unitaid and its critical role in breaking down barriers in low- and middle-income countries to scale up innovative health services and products to ensure health for all and realize the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Thanks to Unitaid, more people across Africa have access to the best HIV treatments at a fraction of the original price. Young children have been cured of tuberculosis with high-quality formulations that are easy to administer. Millions of young people are better protected against malaria through large-scale seasonal delivery of medicines, an approach that has dramatically reduced child mortality without raising costs.

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need for equitable access to health commodities and strong, coordinated global health responses. Unitaid’s agile approach enables innovative solutions to prevent, diagnose and treat diseases, saves precious time and helps strengthen our collective capacity to respond to current and future health threats.

I commend Unitaid’s commitment to health equity and innovation in addressing global challenges. My warmest congratulations for your outstanding efforts in advancing global health and saving lives.

Source: United Nations