The Speaker of the Parliament, Archil Talakvadze and the Director of WHO Regional Office, Hans Henri Kluge at the meeting discussed the COVID-19 pandemic and the preventive measures.

The emphasis was made on the vaccination in Georgia. The parties underlined the importance of humanitarian support for the residents of occupied Abkhazia during the pandemic.

The parties touched upon the disinformation directed against the Lugar Laboratory and stressed the role of the Laboratory as the flagship in countering COVID-19. The parties discussed the tobacco control reform, universal medical insurance, Hepatitis C elimination program, TB prevention and control, initial healthcare and mental health reforms.

“We have held many important meetings with the WHO Regional Director and discussed first of all the vaccination. The information about the vaccine makes us hopeful that soon, the pandemic will be over in the world. The scientific circles and the global pharmaceutical corporations strive to increase the accessibility to the vaccine and our Government is very active to ensure vaccination as one of the first countries in the region. We discussed all the attempts undertaken by the Government in 2020 against the pandemic, including stressing the legal support. As you may know, the Parliament keeps considering the extension of the restrictions and cooperation with the Government, so this meeting was very important to hear the recommendations from WHO”, - the Speaker noted.

“It was a very productive meeting with the Speaker of the Parliament. First of all, I expressed my gratitude to the Parliament for its efforts in countering the pandemic and ensuring the public healthcare and social condition. We underlined the positive dynamics in this direction, though we stressed the necessity to be careful in the pre-holiday period to maintain the positive dynamics”, - said Kluge.