Andorra.
The President of Honduras, Juan Orlando Hernández, said this Wednesday in his virtual speech at the XXVII Iberoamerican Summit, that vaccines against covid-19 “must reach everyone equally.”
“It’s not just what is happening today, it’s about the lives of human beings,” said Hernandez, who explained that, “despite having made all the arrangements in time when it became known about the creation of ‘these vaccines’, and ‘relying on multilateralism’ to achieve this, ‘to date we have received very few vaccines, drop by drop’.
He added that this situation is delaying plans for the reconstruction and economic revival of his country, which in addition to the covid-19 pandemic, which began to expand in March 2020, suffered in November from the devastating passage of the tropical storms Eta and Iota.
The pandemic has left about 5,000 dead and more than 200,000 infected in Honduras, according to official sources.
Hernandez stressed that in 2020 Honduras, Considered one of the most vulnerable countries, was the “hardest hit in the world” by the pandemic and the two tropical storms.
These misfortunes left the country “in a very precarious situation”, in addition to abruptly halting the economic growth that led to Honduras, considered one of the highest in Latin America.
The president thanked the European union and to the Government of Spain for being “the first to respond” to the so-called Honduras in the face of damage caused by tropical storms Eta and Iota.
He also recalled that Queen Letizia visited northern Honduras in December and “could personally witness the destruction” left by the two tropical storms in less than a fortnight.
Proposal to multiply vaccine production
Hernández also indicated that if the current production capacity of covid-19 vaccines is insufficient, Honduras proposes that the Iberoamerican Summit help its multiplication, either by ceding patents for other laboratories to do so or with agreements with the pharmaceutical industry.
Therefore, it has delimited, Honduras it has financial resources and “I am sure that other countries and other organizations can help with this funding, under the COVAX mechanism, in the face of hoarding countries that have more than the necessary doses for their population.”
Honduras, a country with a population of 9.5 million, has received less than 1% of vaccines.
The president also highlighted the struggle his country has made to reduce criminal violence and drug trafficking from South America to United States.
He added that Honduras has stopped heading the “painful list” of the world’s most violent countries and that drug trafficking through its country has been reduced by 95%, according to U.S. records.
“As you can see, there are many challenges that our nation faces for the year 2021, which we think at this time would be different with mass vaccination, but it is not happening, neither here nor in most countries, “the president stressed.
In his opinion, forums like the Ibero-American summit they become “indispensable” in times of crisis to unite and seek solutions among all countries.
Hernandez has advocated for success to accompany the Ibero-American Summit “at this difficult time for humanity.”