GENEVA, Switzerland: The first lady of Pakistan Her Excellency Mrs. Samina Alvi participated as the Chief Guest at the WHO Consultative Conference on the Global Report on Effective Access to Assistive Technology (GReAT), and apprised participants on government of Pakistan’s programmes.
The WHO Consultative Conference on GReAT is being held at the World Health Organization (WHO) Headquarter in Geneva from August 22-23, 2019.
More than 250 delegates from 100 Countries are participating in the meeting.
“Pakistan has been a strong advocate at both regional and global levels for access to assistive technology. It was result of our consistent efforts that for the first time in 2015 Assistive Technology made it to the agenda of the WHO Executive Board,” Mrs. Samina Alvi said in her key note address at the Conference.
Reckoning Pakistan’s lead role in accessibility to assistive technologies the First Lady said that Pakistan’s efforts were crowned with success in October 2016 when on the request of Pakistan, the Eastern Mediterranean Region became the first WHO Region to adopt a regional resolution on the subject and develop a strategic framework to improve access to Assistive Technology.
The first Lady reiterated the dedication and strong political will and resolve in Pakistan in reaching out to those in need of assistive technology. She also shared the national initiative under the social protection program that has been launched for provision of free of cost assistive products to all those who need them across the country.
Mrs. Samina Alvi appreciated the efforts of WHO and all the stakeholders in developing the Global Report on effective access to assistive technology, and urged the Member States to redouble their efforts in developing policies, forging partnerships, acquiring robust data, encouraging innovation and research in the area of assistive technology.
She further emphasized that it was incumbent upon all to make every effort to extend benefits of the modern-day technology to support persons with disabilities and those affected by the rising incidence of Non-Communicable diseases and aging population.
Mrs. Alvi urged the Member States of WHO to resolve to work in unison to achieve the goal enshrined in WHO’s Global Cooperation on Assistive Technology initiative and assured Pakistan’s advocacy and technical support in the implementation of such initiatives.
