[ad_1]
Presidents, prime ministers and professors from around the world have signed an open letter calling on health ministers at the World Health Assembly to urgently rally behind a “people’s vaccine” to combat Covid-19.
The letter, a joint initiative between Oxfam and UNAIDS, urges that all vaccines, treatments and tests be patent-free, mass produced, distributed fairly and made available to all people, in all countries, free of charge.
Former PM Helen Clark has been a central figure in coordinating the involvement of many of the world leaders, according to a spokesperson from Oxfam.
It comes just as The World Health Assembly, the decision-making body of The World Health Organization, is due to virtually meet on the 18 and 19 May.
Your playlist will load after this ad
The former prime minister says the Security Council has failed to step up during the crisis.
Source: 1 NEWS
“Humanity today, in all its fragility, is searching for an effective and safe vaccine against Covid-19. It is our best hope of putting a stop to this painful global pandemic, ”the letter began.
“Our world will only be safer once everyone can benefit from the science and access a vaccine – and that is a political challenge. The World Health Assembly must forge a global agreement that ensures rapid universal access to quality-assured vaccines and treatments with need prioritized above the ability to pay.
“Now is not the time to allow the interests of the wealthiest corporations and governments to be placed before the universal need to save lives, or to leave this massive and moral task to market forces. Access to vaccines and treatments as global public goods are in the interests of all humanity. We cannot afford for monopolies, crude competition and near-sighted nationalism to stand in the way. ”
Your playlist will load after this ad
Of that, $ 8 billion will go towards vaccine development.
Source: 1 NEWS
The letter outlined the call for a global agreement on Covid-19 vaccines, diagnostics and treatments implemented under the leadership of the World Health Organization that ensures mandatory sharing of all Covid-19 related knowledge, data and technologies, with a pool of Covid-19 licenses freely available to all countries.
It also calls for “rich nations” to fully fund the manufacturing and distribution plan for vaccine and Covid-19 products and technologies that guarantees “at true cost prices”.
“In doing so, no one can be left behind. Transparent democratic governance must be set in place by the WHO, inclusive of independent expertise and civil society partners, which is essential to lock-in accountability for this agreement. ”
Notable signatories of the letter included Cyril Ramaphosa, President of the Republic of South Africa, Imran Khan, Prime Minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, and Gordon Brown, the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
