BEIJING, June 26 (Xinhua) -- Countries of the Global South can play greater roles in promoting world peace by providing more equitable and accessible health public goods, according to experts at an international forum held in Beijing.

The forum, focusing on the Global Health and Peace Initiative launched by the World Health Organization (WHO), was hosted by China Foreign Affairs University (CFAU) on Wednesday. Dozens of experts from organizations and institutes, including the WHO and the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC), held extensive discussions on the relationship between public health and global peace.

Today, countries of the Global South are no longer just recipients of health public goods; they are now active proponents and champions of a global agenda that advocates for peace through good health. Marcus De Freitas, a visiting professor of CFAU and senior fellow at the Policy Center for the New South, a Moroccan think tank, shared this view.

While addressing the forum, De Freitas gave a comprehensive introduction of how Brazil, his home country and a prominent member of the Global South, actively participates in international collaboration projects focused on healthcare, disease study, and treatment. From his perspective, the Global South can do much in developing solutions to key issues of global health governance, such as making medication more affordable and pushing for a more inclusive global health society.

"If we do not develop our own solutions, we're always going to be dependent on what others are doing," he noted.

His view was echoed by Hussain Al-Dahwi, head of Health Program at ICRC's East Asia regional delegation. As an experienced health worker who spent nearly 17 years participating in health programs in war-torn regions, he is well aware of the foundational role of health in the pursuit of peace.

While discussing the contributions of Global South countries to the "peace through health" agenda, he highlighted a significant example: the COVID-19 vaccinations developed by China were distributed to and utilized in conflict-affected areas during the global pandemic. Chinese overseas medical teams have also left a strong impression on him.

This definitely means that China can be, and is already, a big player in global health and peace due to its capacity for manufacturing health and medical products, as well as its support for health system development, said Al-Dahwi.

The Global Health and Peace Initiative was initiated by the WHO in 2019 with the aims of strengthening or improving the role of WHO and the health sector as contributors to improving the prospects for peace. ■