Pakistani leader calls for global unity to fight diseases and emergencies caused by climate change

By MUNIR AHMED
Associated Press

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan’s prime minister has called for unified efforts to tackle global infectious diseases like COVID-19 and emergencies caused by climate change, nearly 1 1/2-year after devastating floods killed 1,700 people in his nation. Representatives from 70 countries, the World Health Organization, and other international organizations are attending a two-day summit in Islamabad. It comes as reports show that thousands of people who lost their homes in the floods were still living in tents for the second consecutive harsh winter. The 2022 floods at one point left a third of Pakistan submerged. Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar told the meeting that “no state in the world, no matter how powerful it is, can meet such challenges” alone.