An affordable vaccine developed through innovation and accessible to all people in all the countries of the world is the only solution to defeat the coronavirus, according to participants at the conference on Friday 24 April launching a global public-private collaboration to accelerate the development, production and equitable distribution of vaccines, diagnostic tests and treatments.
The event was organised by the World Health Organization and co-chaired by the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the President of France, Emmanuel Macron. It brought together Heads of State or Government, representatives from the private sector (pharmaceutical industry) and foundations. At a time when WHO is being criticised by the United States, which has withdrawn all financial contributions to it, everyone at the conference expressed their faith in multilateralism to effectively tackle this global health crisis.
This call to action was a prelude to the global donor conference organised by the European Commission on 4 May with WHO, CEPI (Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations), GAVI (Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization), the Wellcome Trust and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (see EUROPE 12471/3, 12467/8).
“It will mark the launch of a global campaign to raise €7.5 billion to ramp up work on prevention, diagnosis and vaccination”, Mrs von der Leyen stressed.
Emmanuel Macron welcomed “the creation of this accelerator to fight against COVID-19” and the gathering of the international community and all the players in this “unprecedented partnership for greater efficacy”. Every effort will be made to get the G7 and G20 countries to support the initiative, he said, expressing hope that “China and the United States also” will join on 4 May.
Citing “a financing gap of 8 billion euros”, German Chancellor Angela Merkel called on the donors to fill it. Germany will announce “a substantial contribution” at the donors’ conference, she said.
The President of the Italian Council, Giuseppe Conte, said that “finding a vaccine and distributing it is the only way to win the battle”. It is “everyone’s responsibility to promote universal and equitable access to vaccines and treatments”, he said.
This view is shared by the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki. He recalled that Africa, with a population of 1.3 billion and vulnerable health care systems, has adopted a common continental strategy to combat the coronavirus. Stressing the importance of “innovation and science” for treatments and a vaccine, he encouraged “everyone to fund this life-saving work”.
“We need investors in all sectors and all countries”, Melinda Gates added. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)