MOSCOW, September 9. /TASS/. Members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) have managed to implement more effective measures fighting the spread of the coronavirus than in other countries and regions, said Secretary-General of the organization Vladimir Norov in an open interview with TASS First Deputy Director General Mikhail Gusman on Wednesday.

"One can state with confidence that the positive dynamics observed today in many SCO states compared to certain countries and world regions indicate the effectiveness of the work of our governments in the fight against the coronavirus," he noted. "The SCO from the very beginning of the pandemic implemented close cooperation with the World Health Organization and its recommendations were very timely used in order to take under control the spread of the infection," he added.

The Secretary-General noted the fact that as a result of the pandemic one had to choose between the economic growth and human lives. "Realizing the inevitability of economic hardships, all SCO member states still made a choice in favor of human lives, and the scale of the epidemic in China in January and February of this year allowed us to understand in advance the degree of danger of the approaching threat and introduce preventive measures," he continued.

"In our countries it is well understood that not a single state is capable of ensuring its own security by suppressing the coronavirus only in its own territory while the spread of the disease continues in neighboring countries," the official stressed. "To this end the work was conducted on coordination of measures, information exchange, and mutual support which led to a positive cumulative effect. During the acute period of the pandemic the SCO countries exchanged moral and political support, there was an exchange of epidemiologic and organizational expertise, and financial, economic, and humanitarian aid was provided to the SCO members affected by the virus the most," he concluded.