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At the start of the World Health Summit, Federal President Steinmeier and UN Secretary General Guterres called for better cooperation to combat the corona pandemic. Steinmeier focuses primarily on the US.
Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has called on the international community to better work together in the fight against the corona pandemic. “No one is safe from Covid-19 before everyone is safe from it,” Steinmeier said in a video message for the World Health Summit. The pandemic must be overcome in a spirit of cooperation, not in the spirit of “vaccine nationalism.”
Rich countries around the world, including Germany, secured millions of vaccine doses through preliminary contracts with manufacturers before they were approved. “We all also know that governments are obligated first of all to their own people,” Steinmeier said. But the truth is also that early vaccine safety for some will be at the expense of others.
Appell an die USA
Steinmeier called for support for the international Covax vaccination initiative. The initiative, supported by the World Health Organization (WHO), advocates for a fair distribution of funds to poor countries. The virus knows no borders, at first glance we are without a doubt a global community, said Steinmeier. “But the crucial question is: can we also act as such?”
In particular, he called on the United States to support international efforts for equitable distribution. The United States is not yet part of Covax. “No country has failed in previous efforts as much as the United States of America,” Steinmeier said, calling on the Washington government to join the initiative.
“The greatest crisis of modern times”
UN Secretary General António Guterres said the Covid-19 outbreak was the biggest crisis in modern times. However, if countries followed the scientists’ findings and worked together, the pandemic could be overcome.
The Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, also stressed that cooperation is the only way for the world community to recover from the disease.
Von der Leyen calls for the EU to play a leadership role
The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said that the fight against Corona could be a model case for a real global health contract. “This requires a clear leadership role and the European Union must assume this responsibility.”
The “World Health Summit”, which lasted several days, with lectures and debates, was originally supposed to take place in Berlin with about 2000 participants. Due to the pandemic, the event became a purely online conference. The participants now discuss amongst themselves via video.
