CIS Experts on Situation with Coronavirus: Our Task is to Prevent a Sharp Increase of Incidence Rate

The CIS Executive Committee in Minsk (Republic of Belarus) held an extraordinary meeting of the Coordination Board on Sanitary Protection of the Territories of the CIS Member Nations from Import and Spread of Especially Dangerous Infectious Diseases via videoconference.

The meeting was attended by members of the Coordination Board, subject-matter experts, diplomatic personnel and other interested parties from the Republic of Armenia, the Republic of Belarus, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Russian Federation, the Republic of Tajikistan and the Republic of Uzbekistan, as well as representatives of the CIS Executive Committee and the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly.

Opening the meeting, Secretary of the Coordination Board on Sanitary Protection of the Territories of the CIS Member Nations from Import and Spread of Especially Dangerous Infectious Diseases, Head of the Epidemiology Department of the Russian Research Anti-Plague Institute “Microbe” of the Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing (Rospotrebnadzor) Igor Karnaukhov provided relevant data on the spread of the coronavirus in the world and analyzed the main reasons for such a rapid increase in the incidence rate.

The efforts of the CIS countries to prevent the import and contain the spread of the coronavirus were found to be effective and justified by the participants of the meeting.

Deputy Head of the Rospotrebnadzor Vyacheslav Smolensky emphasized the need to combat the import of the infection. He also pointed out the importance of the participation of the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly representative in the meeting.

Executive Secretary of the IPA CIS Expert Advisory Board on Public Health, Secretary of the IPA CIS Permanent Commission on Social Policy and Human Rights Evgenia Vladimirova reminded that in 2014 the Assembly adopted a Model Law on Facilitation and Regulation of International Emergency Assistance and Emergency Mitigation, which provides for the mechanisms of legislative regulation of international assistance and coordinated action in the case of major emergencies.

Evgenia Vladimirova also informed that she would present the results of today's event at the next meeting of the IPA CIS Permanent Commission on Social Policy and Human Rights.