Carrizo proposes to the UN to create a global initiative against the high cost of medicines

Panama proposed to the General Assembly of the United Nations (UN) to carry out a global initiative to solve the high cost of medicines worldwide and to establish an international organization that demands responsibility from those who cause damage to the planet and environment.
Both proposals were presented by the Vice President of the Republic and Minister of the Presidency José Gabriel Carrizo Jaén, during his speech on behalf of the National Government, at the seventy-seventh regular session of the UN, which is being held in New York, United States. .
Carrizo Jaén explained that the pharmaceutical industry, from production, supply and distribution, must be an ally of health, because an accessible medicine is the difference between life and death.
“We see with concern that millions of people cannot access medicines. The situation has become a mercantile and petty act, the oligopolies obtain disproportionate profits from the medicines they distribute and sell to states and individuals, ”said the Vice President of the Republic in his speech before the United Nations.
He stated that the current medicine distribution system “shames humanity, access to medicines must be valued as a human right and not as an expensive and luxury commodity.”
“Panama proposes before this General Assembly, the adoption of a
global initiative that resolves the excessive price and lack of access to medicines for the citizens of the world”, said the Vice President of the Republic José Gabriel Carrizo Jaén.
Also, Carrizo Jaén criticized the damage caused to natural resources and the environment caused by gas emissions, deforestation and pollution of the oceans.
“How can we win the trust of the new generations,
while the planet where we live is being decimated, before your eyes, and
will our descendants have to live? How many more lives must be lost? How many more natural disasters must occur? When are they going to stop the ecocide?” questioned Carrizo Jaén.
In this sense, the Vice President of the Republic made a concrete proposal: “The time has come for the world to have an international body that demands responsibility from all those who cause damage to the planet.”
According to Carrizo Jaén, the development model must be transformed, seeking healthy and sustainable ecosystems. He mentioned that Panama is one of the three countries in the world declared carbon negative: 35% of our national territory and 30.5% of our seas are declared as protected natural areas. In addition, we are the eighth country in the world in clean energy generation.
He added that Panamanians have a vocation for the protection of natural resources, due to the value of our geographical position and the role that the Panama Canal plays in the world economy.
During his speech, Vice President Carrizo Jaén also spoke about topics such as Panama’s strategy to face the global crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the national strategic plan to fight inequality and poverty, the dialogue policy promoted to overcome the recent social crisis without victims to regret and the migration of foreigners.
Carrizo Jaén was appointed by the President of the Republic Laurentino Cortizo Cohen to represent Panama in the UN General Assembly and traveled on a commercial flight covering his transportation and accommodation expenses, accompanied by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Erika Mouynes.
Within the framework of the General Assembly, important parallel events are held, such as the Climate Week in New York, panels of the World Economic Forum (WEF), the World Biodiversity Summit (WBS), the ministerial meeting of the Group of low-income countries media, and meetings with groups of philanthropists and analysis forums.