WHO wants $ 23.4 billion for Covid plan – Expat Guide to Switzerland
The World Health Organization said Thursday it needed $ 23.4 billion over the next 12 months for its plan to fight Covid-19 and called on the G20 to show leadership and pay.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus bluntly told the group of 20 world powers that met in Rome this weekend that they could no longer leave poorer countries hanging out to dry in the pandemic.
Tedros said the money is needed to ensure Covid-19 vaccines, tests and treatments – and potentially prevent another five million deaths in the crisis.
The G20 “have the ability to make the political and financial commitments necessary to end this pandemic,” Tedros said at a press conference.
“We are at a crucial moment and we need decisive leadership to make the world a safer place.”
The WHO-led Access to Covid Tools Accelerator aims to develop, produce, procure and distribute tools to combat the pandemic.
The $ 23.4 billion needed for funding “pales in comparison to the trillion dollars in economic losses caused by the pandemic and the cost of stimulus programs to support national recovery,” the WHO said.
– “Time to act” –
“Full funding for the ACT Accelerator is a must for all of us to ensure global health security – now is the time to act,” said Tedros.
But the gun call risks the same fate as previous attempts to lead wealthy countries to be ashamed of the ever-widening gap between their own levels of protection against the virus and that of the world’s poorest nations.
According to the WHO, so far only 0.4 percent of tests and 0.5 percent of vaccine doses used have been used in low-income countries, which make up nine percent of the world’s population.
WHO said its plan would shift ACT-A to a more focused focus on addressing gaps in care in poorer countries.
“Nowhere is this inequality more evident than on the African continent, where only eight percent of the population received a single dose of the Covid-19 vaccine,” said South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Only five out of 54 African countries are expected to meet the WHO end-of-year target of fully vaccinating 40 percent of their population.
ACT-A launched the Covax facility, which is designed to ensure poorer countries have access to eventual vaccines and correctly predict that richer nations would consume any doses that come off the production lines.
To date, Covax has shipped 425 million cans to 144 areas – well below what it had hoped.
– Booster cans
WHO chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan said more than a billion donated doses had been pledged for the program – but only about 15 percent actually occurred.
She also said 62 countries have started giving boosters and more states are considering moving.
Swaminathan said nearly a million booster doses were injected a day – three times the amount of vaccines given in low-income countries.
The WHO wants a moratorium on boosters by the end of the year to allow poorer countries to have more vaccinations.
The UN health agency has approved six vaccines for emergencies during the pandemic.
Mariangela Simao, WHO chief for vaccine access, said the agency is considering eight vaccine candidates, including those from India’s Bharat Biotech, and hopes to complete the process next week.
ACT-A has performed more than 128 million tests to date, according to the WHO, and has halved the cost of rapid tests by transferring technology to low- and middle-income countries.
It has also improved essential oxygen, personal protective equipment, and treatment supplies, including nearly three million doses of dexamethasone.