The World Health Organization (WHO) has again called on pharmaceutical companies to share their “knowledge” about coronavirus vaccines with the WHO’s technology access group to “expand vaccine production and dramatically increase the global vaccine offerings”.
This is stated in a statement called “Equity in Vaccines” that the United Nations International Health Organization will launch tomorrow, according to progress made by WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom at a press conference this Thursday from Geneva (Switzerland). ). Ghebreyesus.
Groups of health workers, international organizations, religious groups, youth movements, sports organizations and athletes have signed this declaration on the fairness of vaccines. So it requires the implementation of different groups. First, it calls on political leaders to “increase contributions to the COVAX mechanism and share doses with COVAX, in parallel with their own national vaccine rollout”.
It also calls on regulators to speed up the approval processes for the COVID-19 vaccine “safely and effectively”. Health ministries are urged to work with WHO and other agencies to “invest in their primary care systems and prepare them for the distribution of vaccines to health professionals, and to develop data systems on vaccine delivery, distribution and acceptance” . Finally, he calls on governments to ensure that vaccines are “distributed free of charge at the point of concern, without risk of financial difficulties, starting with health workers”.
Equality in vaccines is especially important for fragile and vulnerable groups, and for small island states, such as those in the Pacific and the Caribbean, which have a small population and may not receive vaccines because they have less bargaining power than countries. The development of vaccines shows that where there is a will, there is a way. If people around the world demand equality in access to the vaccine, it can be done, “said Tedros.
The top president of the international health organization recalled that at the beginning of this year, he called for vaccination of health personnel to take place in all countries for the first 100 days of the year. “Tomorrow is half of the deadline and we have made progress, but we have not yet reached the target. With the inclusion in the emergency list of 2 versions of the AstraZeneca vaccine, COVAX is ready to deploy the vaccines and wait until different manufacturers meet their commitments. The world is closer to delivering on the promise of vaccine equality, “he stressed.
On the other hand, the WHO on Thursday launched the Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan (SPRP) for 2021 against the coronavirus, with six goals: suppress transmission; reduce exposure; countering misinformation and misinformation; protect the vulnerable; reduce death and disease; and accelerating fair access to new tools, including vaccines, diagnostics and treatments.
The financial need to achieve these goals is $ 1.96 billion, including $ 1.2 billion for the WHO component of the Vaccine and Diagnostic Accelerator. In addition, $ 643 million will go to people in need of humanitarian assistance in fragile, conflicted and vulnerable environments.
The SPRP also recognizes the need to fully integrate the response to COVID-19 into planning health and development programs. “The full funding is not only an investment in the response to COVID-19, but it is an investment in global recovery and building the architecture to prepare, prevent and mitigate future health emergencies,” said Tedros.
With a $ 1.7 billion request, the first plan received an “unprecedented” response. “With the support of member states and donors, we raised $ 1.58 billion, of which more than 90 percent has been allocated to countries and regions, raising vital funding for those at the forefront of the COVID pandemic. 19 and supported the basic scientific knowledge and technical work of WHO. It also enabled WHO and our partners to send millions of tests and personal protective equipment and support thousands of IC beds around the world. “
Likewise, he has argued that the initial plan deployed 191 emergency medical teams, supported seroepidemiology studies in 58 countries and offered 150 training events ‘online’ reaching 4.7 million participants.